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environment
Wild Life Bridges….
This is a wildlife bridge in the Netherlands. Wildlife bridges are designed to help animals cross busy highways in safety. They don’t just protect wildlife from being hit by cars – they also connect fragmented habitats and help populations intermingle and breed.
The Netherlands is leading the way in designing these bridges. The country is home to more than 600 similar crossings.
source:::::VIGLICIOUS
natarajan
The Other Side …Perspective ….
A man went out for a walk.
He came to a river and saw a woman on the opposite bank.
“Yoo-hoo,” he shouted, “how can I get to the other side?”
The woman looked up the river then down the river then shouted
back,
“You’re already on the other side.”
Life and truth is often a matter of perspective and viewpoint.
I thought about that issue for a good part of the day.
It was short and somewhat funny but extremely profound.
Do you realize how many people are trying to get to the very
side that you are already on while you are trying to get
somewhere else?
Do you know how many people wish they had a good husband or
wife like you do?
Do you realize how many couples wish they could have children
like you do?
Do you know how many suffering people wish they had a pain free
body like you do?
Do you know how many people wish they just had enough money to
pay their basic bills like you do?
Do you realize how many people wish they could get to the weight
that you are already at?
Do you realize how many people wish they had a job like you do?
Do you realize how many people wish they could see like you can?
…could hear like you can?
…could walk like you can?
I, like most of you reading this, wish for many things.
I have a lot of dreams and visions.
“Perspective” really made me think and realize
that with so many of the rivers of life,
I’m already on the “other” side.
So are you !!!!!!
source::::unknown…a practical one to understand and share with kith and kin…
natarajan
குடி நீருக்கு மழை நீர் !!!
source:::Dinamalar Tamil daily…
natarajan
தொண்டி :ராமநாதபுரம் மாவட்டம் தொண்டி அருகே எஸ்.பி.பட்டினத்தில் மழை நீரை சேகரித்து ஓராண்டு வரை பயன்படுத்தி வருகின்றனர். 100 ஆண்டுகளாக இப் பழக்கம் உள்ளது.
ராமநாதபுரம், புதுக்கோட்டை மாவட்ட எல்லையில் அமைந்துள்ளது எஸ்.பி.பட்டினம். இதையொட்டி கடற்கரை என்பதால், கிணறுகளில் உப்பு தண்ணீர் தான் கிடைக்கிறது. குடிநீருக்காக ஏங்கும் மக்கள், மழைநீரை சேகரிக்க முடிவு செய்தனர். 500க்கும் மேற்பட்ட வீடுகள் உள்ள இப்பகுதியில், பெரும்பாலான வீடுகளில் குடிநீருக்காக தனி அறை கட்டி, அதில் 1,000 முதல் 2,000 லிட்டர் கொள்ளளவு கொண்ட தொட்டி அமைத்துள்ளனர். மழை பெய்யும் போது மாடியிலிருந்து கீழே குழாய் மூலம் தொட்டியில் தண்ணீர் சேகரிக்கின்றனர். தண்ணீர் கெட்டுப்போகாமல் இருக்க சுட்ட செங்கற்களை தொட்டியில் போட்டு வைக்கின்றனர்.
எஸ்.பி.பட்டினம் ஊராட்சி தலைவர் முகமதுகாசிம் கூறியதாவது: 100 ஆண்டுகளுக்கு மேலாக இப்பழக்கம் உள்ளது. வீடு கட்டும் போதே மழை நீர் சேகரிப்பு தொட்டியும் அமைக்கின்றனர். இந்த தண்ணீரை, அடுத்தாண்டு மழை பெய்யும் வரை பயன்படுத்துகின்றனர். அடுப்பு மூட்டி எழும்பும் புகை, மண்பானை வைத்து மூடப்படும். சில மணி நேரம் கழித்து மண்பானையில் மழை நீர் ஊற்றி ஆற வைத்து குடித்தால் சுவை அருமையாக இருக்கும். கிருமிகள் வராமல் தடுக்க, சுட்ட செங்கற்கள் போடப்படுகிறது. மழை நீரை வடிகட்டி சமையல், குடிக்க பயன்படுத்தி வருகிறோம். மழை காலங்களில் தேவைக்கு ஏற்ப மழை நீரை சேகரித்துவிட்டு, மீதி தண்ணீரை கிணற்றில் விடுகிறோம், என்றார்.
திருப்பாவை பாடல் ஒன்று….மழை வேண்டி !!!!!!
ஆழி மழைக்கண்ணா! ஒன்று நீ கைகரவேல்
ஆழியுள் புக்கு முகந்துகொடு ஆர்த்தேறி
ஊழி முதல்வன் உருவம்போல் மெய்கறுத்து
பாழியந் தோளுடைப் பற்பநா பன்கையில்
ஆழிபோல் மின்னி வலம்புரிபோல் நின்றதிர்ந்து
தாழாதே சார்ங்கம் உதைத்த சரமழைபோல்
வாழ உலகினில் பெய்திடாய் நாங்களும்
மார்கழி நீராட மகிழ்ந்தேலோர் எம்பாவாய்.
பொருள்: மேகத்திற்கு அதிபதியான பர்ஜந்யனே! நாங்கள் சொல்வதைக் கேள். உன்னிடம் ஒரு சொட்டு தண்ணீரைக் கூட வைத்துக் கொள்ளாதே. கடல் நீர் முழுவதையும் முகர்ந்து கொண்டு மேலே சென்று, உலகாளும் முதல்வனாகிய கண்ணனின் நிறம் போல் கருத்து, வலிமையான தோள்களையுடைய பத்மநாபனின் கையிலுள்ள பிரகாசமான சக்கரத்தைப் போல் மின்னலை வீசி, வலம்புரி சங்கு ஒலிப்பது போல் இடி ஒலியெழுப்பி, வெற்றியை மட்டுமே ஈட்டும் அவனது சார்ங்கம் என்னும் வில்லில் இருந்து புறப்படும் அம்புகளைப் போல் மழை பொழிவாயாக! அம்மழையால் நாங்கள் இவ்வுலகில் மகிழ்வுடன் வாழ்வோம். மார்கழி நீராடலுக்காக எல்லா நீர்நிலைகளையும் நிரப்பி எங்களை மகிழ்ச்சியடையச் செய்வாயாக.
விளக்கம்: ஆயர் குல சிறுமிகள் மழை, வெயிலுக்குரிய தெய்வங்கள் இன்னதென அறியமாட்டார்கள். ஏனெனில், அவர்களிடம் கல்வியறிவு இல்லை. எனவே பொதுவாக, “ஆழிமழைக் கண்ணா என்று அழைக்கிறார்கள். ஒரு தோற்றத்துக்கு இவர்கள் கண்ணனையே அழைத்தார்களோ என்று எண்ணத்தோன்றும். இது, நாம் சாதாரணமாக ஒரு குழந்தையை அழைக்க பயன்படுத்தும் “கண்ணா என்ற வார்த்தையைப் போல! எனவே “பர்ஜந்யா என்பதற்குப் பதிலாக “கண்ணா என்றழைத்தார்கள். அவனும் வந்தான். அவனிடம் தங்கள் கோரிக்கையை வைத்தார்கள்.
கோயில் இல்லா ஊரில் குடியிருக்க வேண்டாம் !!!
source::::unknown….input from one of my Friends..
Natarajan
பிரமிப்பூட்டும் பழந்தமிழர்களின் விஞ்ஞானம்..!
மன்னராட்சி காலத்தில் ஊரில் கோயில் கோபுரத்தை விட உயரமாக எந்தக் கட்டிடமும் இருக்கக் கூடாது என்று ஒரு எழுதாத சட்டம் இ
ருந்ததாம். என்ன காரணம்? தேடிப் பார்ப்போம் வாருங்கள்.
கோயில்களையும் உயரமான கோபுரங்களையும் அதன் மேல் இருக்கும் கலசங்களையும் பார்த்திருப்பீர்கள். அவற்றுக்கு பின்னால் இருக்கும் ஆன்மிகம் பற்றி எனக்குத் தெரியாது. ஆனால், அதற்குப் பின்னால் எவ்வளவு
பெரிய அறிவியல் ஒளிந்திருக்கிறது என இப்போது தான் தெரிந்தது. கோபுரத்தின் உச்சியில் தங்கம், வெள்ளி, செப்பு அல்லது ஐம்பொன்னால் செய்யப்பட்ட கலசங்கள் இருக்கும். இக்கலசங்களிலும் அதில் கொட்டப்படும் தானியங்களும், உலோகங்களும் மின்காந்த அலைகளை ஈர்க்கும் சக்தியினை (earth) கலசங்களுக்கு கொடுக்கின்றன. (நெல், கம்பு, கேழ்வரகு, திணை, வரகு, சோளம், மக்காசோளம், சாமை, எள்)ஆகியவற்றை கொட்டினார்கள். குறிப்பாக வரகு தானியத்தை அதிகமாக கொட்டினார்கள். காரணத்தை தேடிப்போனால் ஆச்சரியமாக இருக்கிறது, “வரகு” மின்னலை தாங்கும் அதீத ஆற்றலை பெற்றுள்ளது என இப்போதைய அறிவியல் கூறுகிறது. அப்போது எந்த கல்லூரியில் படித்தார்கள் என தெரியவில்லை!!.
இவ்வளவு தானா… இல்லை, பனிரெண்டு வருடங்களுக்கு ஒருமுறை குடமுழுக்கு விழா என்ற பெயரில் “கலசங்களில் இருக்கும் பழைய தானியகள் நீக்கப்பட்டு புதிய தானியங்கள் நிரப்பபடுகிறது”, அதை இன்றைக்கு சம்பரதாயமாக மட்டுமே கடைபிடிக்கிறார்கள். காரணத்தை தேடினால், அந்த தானியங்களுக்கு பனிரெண்டு வருடங்கள் தான் சக்தி இருக்கிறது. அதன் பின்பு அது செயல் இழந்து விடுகிறது!! இதை எப்படி ஆராய்ந்தார்கள்!!!. அவ்வளவு தானா அதுவும் இல்லை, இன்றைக்கு பெய்வதை போன்று மூன்று நாட்களா மழை பெய்தது அன்று? தொடர்ந்து மூன்று மாதங்கள் பெய்தது, ஒருவேளை தானியங்கள் அனைத்தும் நீரில் மூழ்கி அழிந்து போனால், மீண்டும் எதை வைத்து பயிர் செய்வது? இவ்வளவு உயரமான கோபுரத்தை நீர் சூழ வாய்ப்பே இல்லை, இதையே மீண்டும் எடுத்து விதைக்கலாமே!!!
ஒரு இடத்தில் எது மிக உயரமான இடத்தில் அமைந்த இடி தாங்கியோ அது தான் முதலில் “எர்த்” ஆகும். மேலும், அது எத்தனை பேரைக் காப்பாற்றும் என்பது அதன் உயரத்தைப் பொறுத்தது. அடிப்படையில் கலசங்கள் இடிதாங்கிகள். உதாரணமாக கோபுரத்தின் உயரம் ஐம்பது மீட்டர் என்றால் நூறு மீட்டர் விட்டம் அடைக்கும் பரப்பில் எத்தனை பேர் இருந்தாலும் அவர்கள் இடி தாக்காமல் காக்கப்படுவார்கள். அதாவது சுமார் 7500 சதுர மீட்டர் பரப்பில் இருக்கும் மனிதர்கள் காப்பாற்றப்படுவார்கள் !!!!. சில கோயில்களுக்கு நான்கு வாயில்கள் உள்ளன, அது நாலாபுறமும் 7500 சதுர மீட்டர் பரப்பளவை காத்துக்கொண்டு நிற்கிறது!!! இது ஒரு தோராயமான கணக்கு தான், இதை விட உயரமான கோபுரங்கள், இதை விட அதிகமான பணிகளை சத்தமில்லாமல் செய்து வருகின்றது!! பிரம்மிப்பு !!!
இதை எல்லாம் பார்க்க போனால் “கோயில் இல்லா ஊரில் குடியிருக்க வேண்டாம்” என்ற பழமொழி தான் நினைவுக்கு வருகின்றது.
சும்மாவா சொன்னாக பெரியவங்க!!!!!!!!!!
Message For the Day…. In Silence You Will See God ….
You can feel the presence of God, in the depth of silence. In the excitement, clutter and confusion of the marketplace, you cannot hear His gentle footsteps. He resounds with clarity, when all is filled with silence. Hence I insist on silence, practice of soft speech and minimum sound. Talk little, talk in whispers, sweet and true. When you want to place a heavy thing on the ground, place it with care, do not drop it and create noise around you. Bend a little, keep it softly and gently on the floor with care. Similarly examine each and every act of yours and see to it that you execute it softly and silently. Transact all dealings with minimum speech and eliminate noise. Do not shout to persons standing far, go near them or beckon them to approach you. Loud noise is a sacrilege on the sky, just as there are sacrilegious uses of earth and water.
source::::: Divine discourse of Swami Satya SAI..
Natarajan
An Interaction With a Visiting NRI !!!!!
Do Not Miss To Read The Summary at the end
A typical conversation with a visiting NRI…..
Self: Hi! Home for a holiday? Are you going back…..or…?
NRI: Yes…yes…I am going back as soon as possible.
Self: But…your parents are here. There are also many new malls now where you can get everything you want. Its even cheaper than in the US, Europe or Canada or Australia.
NRI: Yes…..things are real cheap here in India….products are very good……the malls are also very good…..restaurants are excellent. But….the roads and the traffic are so terrible….I can’t wait to get back.
Self: Yes…I agree….but….that’s only one relatively small factor….surely you can adjust and put up with that. The situation would improve once the Metro is operational.
NRI: No…No. Why should I put up with the traffic and the crowds and the garbage? Why should I adjust?Its impossible.
Self: OK….lets change the subject. How are your parents? I heard your mother had some health problem. Is she ok now?
NRI: Oh… yeah…she’s ok! Doctors have given her some medicines. Dad is there to take care of her.
Self: But he is old ……how will he manage? Besides, both will be missing all of you so much. Loneliness is terrible. That itself can lead to so many diseases.
NRI: He’ll manage. He has to adjust, I guess.
Self: OK…..how is life in America? What do you eat at home?. The usual Idlis, Dosas Upma etc. that you like so much? Indian food, particularly South Indian food is considered the healthiest! It contains all essential nutrients in a very balanced way.
NRI: Well…no…not really. We normally eat cereals for breakfast….straight from boxes. I carry sandwiches for lunch or eat some salad at the cafeteria (everything is so expensive). For dinner we take out some food stored in the freezer and heat it in the microwave….and that’s it. Its difficult to cook every day, you know….so we cook once a week and store it in the freezer.
Self: But that’s not healthy. Also, eating packaged & processed food every day could lead to many diseases. We read about this every day.
NRI: Oh…. no problem. We adjust. We sometimes eat meat to make up for the proteins.
Self: But you are traditionally a vegetarian, I thought. Vegetarianism is considered a better option for general health, animal rights and for spiritual reasons….. and many westerners are now becoming vegetarians. So…why have you switched to non-veg?
NRI: Well…its no big deal really. One has to adjust.
Self: It must be cold where you live…..you have lived all your life in warm South India.
NRI: Yes…its terribly cold out there with months of snow….but we have central heating. We don’t go out much….but its…ok. We learn to adjust.
Self: How is your wife? Does she also work? What about the children?
NRI: Of course…! She has to work! We can’t manage with one person working. We have mortgages to pay. We both leave our home at 8 am and are back at 6 pm. We have only one child who comes from school and stays alone till we come home. He watches TV and eats something from the freezer. Some of our friends are even opting not to have any children….so that they could save all the trouble. God!…..Children are such a responsibility!
Self: Yes…that they certainly are.
NRI: Children are also very expensive. Their clothes, food, eating out, vacations….buying new stuff every few months just to keep up with their peers in school….its terrible!
Self: So how do you manage? What about the culture? The sexual freedom and so on? Aren’t you worried about these adverse influences on your children?
NRI: No one bothers about all that. Its part of life. If my son adopts that lifestyle…that’s ok with me. We need to adjust and get on with life.
Self: I understand that due to the recession and its aftermath there is a subtle antagonism towards foreigners and immigrants. Is that true?
NRI: Well….yeah…sometimes you do sense a mild discrimination and bigotry. Recently in fact, someone shouted out an abuse at my wife when she was out shopping. Someone at school called out ‘Paki go home’ to my son. But these things are rare…. because…. by and large, we keep to ourselves. We rarely interact with the whites or the other immigrants. Even they prefer to keep to themselves. We have our own small Indian groups with whom we socialize. So…such racist incidents are kept to the minimum. We adjust and learn to manage.
Self : What about entertainment? Do you get Indian TV channels and programs? Do you eat out often?
NRI: Indian channels are usually pay channels and very expensive. So…we don’t have them. We manage with the local english programs. We do see Indian movies sometimes. They are expensive and you need to drive for an hour to get to the cinema hall. So….we don’t do it very often. Eating out is very expensive. Indian food is even more expensive.
Self: Where do you live in the US and do you own a house?
NRI: We live in a locality with lot of Hispanics, Koreans and Chinese. We have bought a house on mortgage recently. Its not very big actually. Just a two bedroom twin home of about 1000 sq ft. Unfortunately prices have dropped recently. But we like it.
Self: But you have a fairly big home in India………
NRI: Yes……but…..what have I got in India? Nothing!
Self: What do you do if one of you is ill? Do any neighbors help?
NRI: Actually….one of my neighbors is a Korean man who lives with his girlfriend. On the other side are two….er…..too. We have to help ourselves most of the time. Our Indian friends live some distance away…..and no one will help if we are ill. Everyone is so busy with their own work.
Self: What sort of work do you do in the US? Is it some highly specialized cutting edge work……. for which you cannot get a job in India?
NRI: Actually…..I am a software engineer. I had a good job till recently, but I got laid off and had a terrible three months. I have recently been called for an interview for a temporary contract position. I may get it. Things are looking good…yeah…..I am ok!
Self: But you would be able to get a very good…highly paying job in India. India’s booming with a very high rate of growth!
NRI: Yes…I know. I’ll probably get a much better salary than what I get in the US…. and maybe I’ll be able to save much more too….but…it’s so difficult to adjust to the traffic and the crowds in India…you know. Its impossible to come back.
Self: OK then….. goodbye and good luck!
(I think to myself as I say goodbye)……Yeah.. right! You can adjust to packaged food and poor health, small dark wooden home, heavy mortgages, terrible weather conditions, lack of family, lonely parents, bad cultural environment, racial abuse, loss of dignity & self respect, job insecurity and even your basic principles……but you can’t adjust to simple traffic conditions in India! )
source:::::unknown…..input from one of my NRI friends !!!!
Natarajan
Green Man of Gaya…..
The green man of Gaya
SARITA BRARA in THE HINDU
Natarajan
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Preserving trees and the environment for the coming generation. -
The HinduTHE MAN BEHIND THE FORESTS: Sikander.
Sikander cycles to Brahmyoni hill every morning to tend to the thousands of trees he has grown single handedly
Sikander lives in a small, one-room house in Gaya, does odd jobs as a part time electrician or an extra hand at a shop to earn a living. But his heart, soul and mind lie in the lofty mission to spread greenery in this town, near Bodh Gaya, where Buddha attained enlightenment. He had single handedly planted countless saplings and today more than ten thousand trees stand tall in Brahmyoni hill and other places.
This is the result of his tireless efforts since he began his mission in 1982, 30 years ago. He is so devoted to the cause that notwithstanding the heat, the cold or the rain, Sikander without fail cycles his way to the hills every morning and starts either planting new samplings or tending to the fresh ones and watering the old and new plants .
“I have three children at home,” he says and “thousands on the Gaya hills to care for, nurture and protect”
He gets really hurt when some of samplings die or are uprooted by miscreants or encroachers, “and this happens constantly”, he laments.
How did it all begin? Sikander recalls that as a child, whenever he came to this area for a picnic with his family or other boys, he found that the place was barren with no trees and he decided to turn the hillock green. What began as a pastime became an obsession and now his lifelong mission. His family has suffered economically, because he refuses to be bogged down either by a full time job or accept employment outside Gaya that could take him away from his mission.
Sikander has grown plants and trees of hundreds of varieties – medicinal, fruits trees and trees that provide shade. There are guava, mango, pomegranate, tamarind, cashew nut, lemon, amla, sheesham, ashoka, neem trees and many other varieties.
“I have planted trees to attract birds,” he says, but regrets that children pluck them while they are still raw.
He also creates parks to beautify the city where he thinks there is a scope. People ask him whether it is for an institute, or an ashram or a spot. Sikander has done his bit to harvest rain water and dug several pits around Brahmayoni hills.
Sikander’s latest fad is naming trees after freedom fighters and other famous personalities. There are trees named after Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru, Subhas Chandra Bose, Khudiram Bose, Bhagat Singh, Chander Shekhar Azad, Maharana Pratap, Lala Lajpat Rai, Shivaji and others. Sikander says that he is trying to find the names of other freedom fighters so that he can name more trees after them. He is making a special corner for plants named after Kargil martyrs.
Though Gaya’s greenman has earned a lot of appreciation from many quarters and has many admirers, he has not received any help from the state government, irrespective of which party has been in power. His biggest concern today is to protect the green areas that he has created, away from encroachers and ensure that the saplings he plants with so much of hard work are not uprooted or die for want of care. He has applied for assistance many times to the local authorities and even petitioned the current chief minister, but so far has got nothing except assurances. He is keen on starting an organisation or a Trust so that he gets support for his rare mission, but says he does not have the means for it.
“My dream is to see Gaya as an international tourist city with greenery everywhere and also make people aware of the environment and the need to preserve it for coming generation,” he says.
Keywords: Sikander, Brahmyoni hill, tree plantation, environment protection, Gaya hills
Think Differently… Organic Washing Detergent!!!
source:::::EONOMIC TIMES..
Natarajan
Meet Chennai-based spouses-turned-business partners, who opted out of the corporate rat race one sure idea: to work on an environment-related concept.
There’s nothing new about people leaving lucrative MNC jobs to start their own ventures, but how many are enterprising enough to quit without knowing what they want to do or how to go about it? Meet Chennai-based Preethi Sukumaran and Srinivas Krishnaswamy, spouses-turned-business partners, who opted out of the corporate rat race on the same day, 31 January 2009, with one sure idea: to work on an environment-related concept.
“After graduating from IIM in 2001, we both worked in various FMCG MNCs for eight years. So, we were confident about brand building, marketing and handling the venture, but weren’t sure about the product itself,” says Krishnaswamy, who graduated from IIM-Bangalore, while his wife is from IIM-Calcutta. So, the couple, who got married in 2003, decided to see the world while waiting for inspiration to strike. Indeed, it was during their year-long travel across India and Europe that they figured out how to integrate their personal quest of sustainable urban living with a business venture. The solution was to create a basket of sustainable, organic goodies. On returning home in 2010, the duo researched the market for organic products, and zeroed in on organic washing detergent as their first product. “In 2009, we had started using soapberries for washing our clothes and realised that not only were theyenvironment-friendly compared with the usual detergents, but were equally, if not more, effective,” says Sukumaran.
Within the organic product universe, the humble detergent had remained on the sidelines despite contributing heavily to soil and water pollution. “Till that time, the players in this market were small and unorganised, so we decided to launch organic washing detergent,” she adds. In May 2010, they finally figured on a name, Krya, meaning mindful action, and by October 2010, the company had been registered.
The couple did not set up the venture in the traditional way, that is, first launching and then promoting it. In fact, they did the reverse. “After registering our company, while we were looking at sourcing our product, working on the website design and other back-end issues, we started a Facebook page and a blog. Over the next six months, we interacted online with a lot of people, telling them what we were planning to do and how we were going about it,” says Sukumaran.
Before long, the couple got an active Net community. They also finalised the soapberries they wanted to use and struck a deal with an organic farm near Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. “The latter would process and manufacture the product and send it to our office in Chennai,” she adds. By the time the product was launched in May 2011, Krya had built a potential customer base without spending much—Rs 6 lakh for the entire process, from idea inception and registering the company to renting a 250-sq-ft office space at Mylapore, Chennai, and launching the product.
