Neglected lake to Bird sanctuary.

Remember Piyush?
So he is back in full action (ok, a hand tied, due to an accident he had recently, but that cant stop him, we know!) and this time its my pet area too. Water body! But Piyush’s speed is different, you know.
He, during some conversation with the collector, offered to clean the periphery of a lake (50+ acres) called mookeneri lake, involving students and public. This appealed to the collector to sensitise the water body. So Piyush got some 700 people and cleaned a major area around the lake a month back, some 45 days back to be more accurate!
Then he got the collector more involved and asked him to let this evolve with public participation in to a bird sanctuary. The collector liked the idea but suspected the modus operandi. Piyush explained (am sure with lotsa pumped gas, as I know him and great picture he wud have painted with consummate ease)
And asked for written approval from him thru the PWD (which is the authority). Ofcourse who ever owned this lake (from the govt side), as usual hasn’t bothered to even desilt it for last 60 years.
That’s also the reason for no encroachment, IMHO.
So here our man gets in to mobilizing people once the PWD and govt said ok.
But that’s the difference between this small devil and others. The pace at which he will move things and get work done, even if the collector has a rethinking, a major part wud be done before he can wink and frame one sentence.
So our man goes about desilting, getting some JCB and other machines at work- full speed.
When he called me and apprised me of this and asked me to come over to have a look, I said, I shall see it next time I travel that side. And typical of him he pressed me to come over immediately if I wanted to see from scratch. And believe me from the time I spoke to him and 48 hours, so much had been accomplished there!
There were thes huge craters he digs as a part of desilting and creates the huge soil masses which will eventually become huge islands. On top of each island shall come some 200-300 bamboo tress and few huge trees (like peepal, banyan, cherry etc ) which shall attract birds.
The circumference of each island shall be 350-450 feet. Imagine some huge circular islands and some rope bridges connecting them with water alla round and kids going there to camp and educate themselves on environment/ecology.
The plan itself is not anything new, but the pace and the way he starts off without any money even and in the process goes about collecting is typical Piyush. Ofcourse there is a big team out there, a big public participation (esp now with his recent arrest, he has won so much sympathy that he has won so many more supporters!)

Wait! Here was a man who fought and singlehandedly closed a couple of mines around. So if he were to dig from lake site will the politico-corporate nexus not pounce? That was my thinking bcos the right to allow any one to desilt and btake the mud/soil lies with Directorate of Mines. That’s where there is huge chance for lethargy, apathy, no-will-or-action and corruption. So now if he were to take, I cudnt stop imagining..and he coolly says “that’s why I never allowed one tipper to enter here. We will excavate and pile up here itself. So no one can point their finger”. Very clever, me thinks. So that’s piyush. Already eco clubs of schools involved, many leading citizens involved, noted public figures vested with some responsibilities and hence a cool team set up which shall turn this ignored and neglected lake in to a big water body and more than that a special bird sanctuary.
Hats off piyush! Again!!
Keep going..let some rub on people like us and lets be inspired to achieve atleast a small percentage.
And BTW, Thanks for doing this Piyush! An eco restoration worth its salt err water.

for some fotos, bad ones from my mobile, go here.

Note: many of u asked me what happened to his case after that arrest! Strangely nothing! Absolutely nothing!! Yes, the police have no case prolly, so no charge sheet filed as of now. This clearly indicates that had nothing else other than malice and vendetta- in the form of pressure from some political cohort or lout.

sevalaya again!

remember last year?
so this year too the sevalaya kids freak out. both in 10th & 12th..
hats off. 100% result in 10th grade. The school topper gets 481 / 500 - a sevalaya record. 32 out of 74 who wrote get above 400 / 500. 90% result in 12th exams.
as I said last years, for a school with 1st generation school goers, this is far out.
incredible isnt?
and if u wanna enjoy this go here and donate.
u have other reasons go there again and contribute.

Ideal couple- raghu and Nisha!

This has been happening in the recent past. I hear of good folks, great projects, sooper farms, etc. Many times such people/project/farm is already in my to-do list or I have heard and been mulling going over..
And suddenly some friend, like Arya Bhaskar did that day, will make a call and put me through.
So this happened few days back when I was in Coimbatore. So this is a new ‘back to the land’ couple..ok 1.5 years can be new still aint?
As I talk to them I feel comfy and have a feeling that they remind me of the inimitable couple at point return- Sriram & Karpagam and the mention of a low cost eco friendly house in the lines of laurie baker style I decide to go there the very next day.
As expected we gel as friends at the very sight and casually talk about various stuff..so more common friends fall in line and common idea(l)s also come out..
They have been very closely associated with charityfocus.
Raghu in his inimitable style narrates how charity focus evolved and its founder Nipun’s master strokes..he also touches up on how they both got involved and get sold by the ‘gift economy’ and ‘pay-it-forward’ philosophies.Ragu is the brain behind smile cards. A little more time and we discuss seva café, karma kitchen and some more common friends. They are also big fans of DV of Point return, like me. more brownie points to them.
(correction/update: Nisha says raghu is not the brain behind 'smile cards; but a lead volunteer. So I stand corrected even if they were trying to be modest)
So these two now have chosen a beautiful location – in the outskirts of Coimbatore and are practicing natural farming. So more reason for us to be in touch and visit too!
Their knowledge is amazing..their passion fabulous..involvement absolute..conviction simply great! An amazing couple..full of knowledge and assimilation..great ideas, cool outlook. Time flies when we are with them..so many topics touched..so much shared..
Be it soil or a bore pump or wood or architecture or raised beds or native trees or water conservation or what not?
There are so many quotes one can collect in the process. The best for the day for me was (what his agri contact- a traditional local farmer told him apparently) : This is Agri-culture not agri- business! So it has to be like our culture and tradition. So stop thinking of it as business all along! prophetic words, eh?

another stand out for me was they actually planted tree saplings in the trenches. right in the pits.Normally we see the saplings on the ridges of the trenches, on the piles of soil on the sides. Here they plant them inside. This way they say moisture retention is higher, wind affecting the saplings is lesser and more importantly the saplings that have come from the comforts of nursery cant take sudden torrid sun for long hours. Since the saplings shall be in the pit, for most part of the day the plant isnt exposed to direct sun. another advantage being routing water.That was a Revelation.

Since there shall be more to come from them, for now do with browsing their blog here.
There are some photos, but they come once I download from my mobile.so thats for another day.

one question lingers on though- why is it that the women of these organic couples are far more intelligent and well informed?

update: No post about Ragu and Nisha can be complete without mentioning Om, their cute son. But I had plans to write later about Om, their plans of his education (unconventional style) like many other organic farmers are doing. Though that shall happen later, lemme not be blamed for leaving out Om. He is already freaking out and I can only imagine what he shall become with their plans of educating him in their farm and not sending him to school. N said 'if our training him fails, the alternative is not school but different teacher or mode'. am looking forward.

Kushboo, DMK & tamil cohorts.

So nice..another stalwart, Kushboo that is, joins DMK..
So the party that was by and for actors in yester years and now whole & soul of MK family, has a new addition..
That too against whom their cadres and those of the extra-tamil-fever parties agitated and also moved courts!
A very nice way of getting back at them,this is by Kushboo. Imagine now that if she is offered a seat (be it MLA or MP or what ever rot) and the alliance party guys will have to support her too.
So The great Tamil warrior and lower cast saviour Theruma will have to forget that he sent goons to burn her house, The great anti-god man and perma-ruling head-boot licker Beermani whose men pelted stones n chappals, all will go out and ask for votes for this actor. Lets see then who is a better actor;-0
But shameless these bunches are, aint they?

Stampede death!

Did u guess where? In a railway station! Yes, delhi railway station..
What a sad thing right?
That’s when people attempted to rush/board in to a train..prolly the officials goofed by (not) announcing or the trains entry at the last minute or well after the scheduled time, callous approach by the officials, lack of any system there at the rly station..possibly all of it!
But who cares?
For one- we are a bunch of idiots…as a race we don’t know to conduct ourselves in public. If there are 100 seats and we are only 20 of us, still we all rush like mad at the 1st instance..plus we just don’t have any scruples and so don’t care if we are pushing kids or invalids or old people aside in the process..we wudnt mind walking all over any body- to reach our GOAL! What an honorable march aint?
Shameless..
Don’t get me wrong..just look around whenever u r in any crowded place..oops, bus stand and rly station- we can litter just about anywhere..spit, piss, throw..do what ever..who cares? Plastic or not- just about anything. Next time u r in a train- the elite upper class that too and count the no. of people who use the toilet when the train is parked. No point- if u say or if its written big, bold there on the toilet door. People ignore. They just do it! All this is the elite, educated mass!
Thooo..
Haven’t u seen how people rush, sneak, push, rush in the immigration counters in the airport? All those ‘foreign educated’, ‘nris’ ‘green cards’ and all that? how they throw stuff?
Haven’t we seen people spit on road side (oh! With that special agrggrgh noise) in Swiss and Newzealand (and get caught?)..
There is no end..
So where can sanity suddenly surface just there in a railway platform..when the announcement, train and just about everything arrived wrong or late?
People rushed..walked err ran all over..smashed a few people to death..

OH! Death and so that made news! So, many of us, including me are talking about it!
Correction? What?? Correction, eh? Shut up..wait till next problem, scandal and keep scratching ur scrotum and walk past..

But did u notice the highlight?
Our brilliant bureaucracy came up with a typical response. None other than the travelers are allowed in to stations in Delhi! Ban on Platform tickets! How laughable? Since the shoe size is a bit small they cut the feet..great aint?

hurray! hats off vishy!!

so the most brainy man on this planet leads from front.
Another crown for this King!
and so less noise made in our noisy media and the print ofcourse so much to guess between every move of Dhoni.

But This king silently kills Topalov esp when Topalov was playing to his strength, white and the last game! hmm, man This fella Vishy is amazing..
he is so saintly cool and just razes this guy in his area of strength and when all and sundry were saying that 'with black the best u could is to draw' and here our King shows why he is the KING!!
hats off dude..
we are proud of you, inspite of our media's slumber.

crazy coincidence..

I had to suddenly leave for blore 2 nights back and since the decision itself was thrusted on me late that evening, I had to rush to Koyembedu bus stand and take a bus. It was the last bus that night and I got in happy thinking I will reach Blore early next day to attend to my tasks..
oops, a minor accident, big show down between drivers, police etc and i had to jump in and offer 'kattai panchayat" and after some 3 hours our bus left..But that story will come to you later, in a couple of days.

Now to this funny crazy coincidence.

From that bus, I suddenly hopped off at chule circle (instead of the predetermined Hudson circle)..Now that I was popular after that mid nights 'show down(katta panchayat) people jumped to help me..driver immly stopped to ease me out..after all that i suddenly felt why did i suddenly jump out here..ok, it was really late and any amount of time save was good..still!

There was this guy who travelled in the same bus who had got down at the same stop as planned. He asks me where i needed to go and I said "dairy circle". i said so bcos i normally dont say the place where my BIL lives bcos most dont recognise that place. This fellow immly says 'even Iam going that side, where there?' and I said "its near that, taverekere" and he jumps 'what? me too'..i cudnt believe, i said its taverekere main road..and he says 'me too'..
then I say "near that banyan tree.." and he says 'hey, thats too much, i live 4 buildings away from that tree'..
so what? me, as always trigger happy to avoid going solo in auto (if not for time, i wud have bussed generally) jumps at his suggestion of going in the same auto..

now, we need to go thru the regular small talk aint? so where r u working? so where from madras? bla bla..
"oh, u work here at blore? so u went to visit ur parents is it"
and suddenly he says ' hmm..actually my thatha is in madras but my parents are actually in ..'
"in????"
'in Neyveli'

what???Neyveli??
hmm, how crazy can it go? taverekere to neyveli? then it comes out that he studied in the same school as me..
I tell him " hey dont tell me u r my brother like in some S.V;Sekar drama;-)"
it turns out he was in my school but some 15 years later..
His father worked in the same public sector as my father..

that was like unbelievable..it went on and there were so many crazy similarities like he is called by the same(nick) name at home!
The way it all got unfolded was simply crazy and unbelievable..

how low can they go?

oh man!
we all knew what transpired when the grand old man -who could hardly walk- was wheeled around post UPA-II when the ministries were to be decided.
Most of smelt rat but couldnt substantiate..and funnily most media portrayed it as a family feud..
But hold on..Now there are taps of conversations between one Ms.Radia, A.Raja and Kanimozhi! so there were other people who were busy 'forming' the ministry other than the PM! oh! we have a clean, honest decent prime minister, dont we?
I know only lalu can come closer to MK & fly politrix, but for a man like MMsingh to keep silence or support on the sly, hmm...
isnt the nadir of our politrix?
firstly the PM has been supporting and hiding 'the mother of all scams minister' and showing no cognizance. Now with the leak of their tapes, its the right feather in the cap er shit..
I cant imagine any politician going any lower..
see this for a recent proof..
and here for lotsa old stories on how A.Raja has been freaking out.

mention in Kumudam

There is a mention in Kumudam about yours truly and a foto too. How ever bad it is 'my foto has come in Kumudam';-)
BTW am yet to own a copy..once i get it and if i can scan , u can get to see that here..
giving any link here will not be helpful as kumudam is a paid site.
This is about chemically and artificially ripening of mangoes and tips to identify them.
ofcourse about virtues of organic fruits.
inspite of me goading them to write a line about restore, they didnt:-(

now all you say this aloud. If I need to buy Mangoes, i shall buy organic and if I need organic mangoes in Chennai i shall buy from restore.
did u say that aloud? lemme check how the crowds swell after this...

Partner in terror!

Ha ha..one more close shave..
Another Pakistani..another attempt..
Another close shave..another paki link established..
But will these US goofs still talk about ‘partner in terror’ ‘aid and talks’ ‘fight terror together’ and the blue-eyed-pak treatment continue over there? Till a few more 9/11 happens?
Good luck Obama..u r right on track there..
except that some undiplomatic sleuth caught this sleazy paki before he left for Dubai..
if only that had happened we wud had another India-like dialogs and negotiation to get that crook on legal track..some fun missed, but more to come na?
don’t fail us, ok?