Let's buy air-purifiers!

Air Pollution in Delhi - (image from Huffington Post)

“People with young children are reluctant to move to Delhi.”  - my European colleague confessed.
“Delhi is now one of the most polluted cities in the world and everybody is concerned about the impact of pollution on health.”

I nodded in agreement. The word is out. Almost all expats working in Delhi, especially those with foreign missions and embassies are asking for their office and residences to be fitted with air purifiers. Many organisations and governments have already have agreed to their demands.

We have done the assessment of air quality in our offices and outside and it is confirmed that the air contains several times more than the permissible quantity of PM2.5 and other harmful gases. Air purifiers for our office are on their way.

In our growing years, we never realised the need of water purifiers. We grew up in small towns never bothered about the quality of the water that we drank. The water tasted great, and, even if, we fell ill sometimes, the doctor did not force us to install a water purifier. Our water was clean and potable. Today, water purifiers are in every household that can afford them. The air-purifiers may be soon be ubiquitous in Delhi households.

Rich people have several options to deal with the hazard that they have created. But those with poor income have no option other than to suffer from havoc caused by luxuries and greed of rich people.

Protecting common people’s interest is government’s responsibility. However, day by day deteriorating quality of air and water is not yet seen as a challenge that need comprehensive intervention by our government. 

Sad, Unfortunate and Foolish

Gajendra Singh committed suicide in AAP rally today. The news hit reflect the sorry state of affairs in our today's politics. Is it politics at its new low? Was this a political drama gone wrong? Or was this a genuine hopelessness and frustration of a farmer forcing him to end his life?
I hope that we come to know the truth soon. This is was a sad, horrible unfortunate and foolish act. Suicide is not an option. I am also surprised at the insensitivity of the people in that rally. How can a farmer attempts  suicide in a rally in a full public view and nobody stopped him.
If this was a staged drama gone wrong then Kejriwal or whoever is responsible should be given harshest punishment for this. This is politics at its nadir. 

Craving for Clean Air in Delhi

Most men racing towards 40s spend a lot of time thinking about the increasing waist size and receding hairlines. One cannot do much (yes, wigs and hair transplants are always considered) about the receding hairline but there are a few things that they can do about the increasing waist size. jogging and running are supposed to the most popular and easy options. 

Every day, at the time of getting dressed for office, my waist reminds me of the promises that I have made to myself. The promise to run or jog to burn the fat that make me look like a python that swallowed a goat. I want to be honest to myself but there are several challenges. 

In Delhi, there are not many places where you can run or jog without consistent threats of a rich kid with big car and tiny civic sense running over you. The public parks and running tracks are luxury for most common men. Luckily, I live close to (close enough to reach there with a 10 minutes walk) a public park. But, for that one needs to get up by 6 pm. There is no shame in accepting that I am not one of those morning persons. Getting up at 6 pm does not come naturally to me. It is a rather forced and unpleasant thing. Post 6 pm, I do not want to take that 10 minute walk to the park; the smoke and the traffic threaten me to a level that I would prefer dying as fatso than walking. 

So far, I have not been able to jog or run for more than once or twice in a month. Recently, I did all the hacking of mind and motivational nudges to make myself up for the challenge of morning jog. I have started jogging.. well.. I have done it for a couple of times to be exact. But I might be switching to running on a treadmill in gym. Delhi air quality is getting worse and worse every day. I was under the impression that I am running in clean air but that was just an illusion in absence of information. 

I hate running indoors. Nothing can compare running with trees by your side and morning wind hitting your face. Sadly, it seems that if I want to run in not so polluted environment I have to switch to gyms fitted with air purification systems and use a treadmill. 

We need to be more conscious of our lifestyle and economic growth. We are paying a horribly high price for our luxuries, egos and greed. 

The DNA of Politicians

Anyone who follows Indian politics (or politics anywhere else) will agree to the fact that almost all politicians hate being criticised. The politicians also perceive themselves to be beyond questioning and assume that they always act in the best interest of party, country and the people. These traits seem the inherent part of a politician’s DNA.

Mamata Banerjee, Narendra Modi, Mulayam Yadav, Indira Gandhi.. the list is tiresomely long. I wonder whether this is one of the basic attributes of being successful in politics. I am utterly disappointed by our politicians. In a democracy, politicians are to represent peoples view and work for people’s interest. This requires a personality and attitude that are accommodating of criticisms, different opinions and an open mind  for participatory decision making. Sad that our politician’s DNA  does value these things.

Arvind Kejriwal is the newest entrants in the list and a very apt example. His entire tirade was against the centralised and dictatorial processes and he promised that everyone will be part of the governance and decision making both at the party level as well as in the governance of state. But  he seems to have developed allergy to criticism. Whatever be his intentions and however selfless be his acts, criticism is something that cannot be ignored. Criticism is part of the process. It need to be factored in and properly addressed through a transparent process.