Destination Infinity's Blog, page 60

What is Auroville?

Auroville is a 12 square KM Universal/International township near Pondicherry, South India and is an interesting experiment in Human Unity. There are currently around 2300 residents from more than 50 countries living here but only 40% of them are Indians.

Here, the land belongs to nobody, there is no religion/political systems, there is supposed to be no monetary exchanges (but there is), work is more of an endeavor to advance human consciousness than maximize profits, and there are no salaries based on designations. All Auroville residents are volunteers and receive a fixed monthly allowance of around Rs. 10,000 using which they can pay for food, provisions, electricity, etc.

Living here is not inexpensive as volunteers need to build their own homes in a short period after they arrive. Since land belongs to no one, they cannot sell their houses if they choose to relocate elsewhere. Many residents may have other sources of income which they use for expenditure as profits from commercial units located within Auroville goes to the Central Fund. Some basic facilities like education, basic health care, culture & sports activities are free of cost (for the residents).

In Auroville schools, a student can achieve 12th Std level educational qualification without writing/passing a single exam! But other forms of traditional education options are also available here and in neighboring Pondy.

What I love about Auroville is their contribution towards research and implementation of Sustainable Living principles/methodologies in their day to day life. Some of which are,

Solar panels power most houses in Auroville. Solar water heating systems, wind mills, solar kitchens, and biogas systems are wide spread.
Organic food is grown in various farms around Auroville and many experiments in organic farming have been encouraged.
Alternative health care systems like Homeopathy, Ayurveda, Acupuncture, Reiki, etc. are actively practiced.
More than two million native trees have been grown on 2890 acres around Auroville. They have also built multiple water storage reservoirs in that area.

I learned something about Auroville and their excellent initiatives (commercial and cultural) during the recent ‘Auroville in Chennai’ festival. I have written about some of them: Sadhana Forest, Tsunamika Doll/Upasana, One Asia Project, Medical Clowning, etc. I’ll write about a few more in the near future – stay tuned!

To me, Auroville represents an Ideal in Sustainable Living. An ideal I am trying to achieve living in a city. I am surprised on how much I didn’t know about an interesting experiment going on right in my neighborhood!

Further Information: Auroville.org.

Auroville is a concept that inspires me. I hope it will inspire you too. 

Destination Infinity

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The Gang of Wonder Kids by Shetall Ramsinghani (Book Review)

The Gang of Wonder Kids by Shetall Ramsinghani is a sweet book for pre-teens and early-teens that is filled with adventures while helping kids to learn valuable life lessons. Slightly bordering on paranormal, I guess the stories should be exciting (for kids). What takes the cake is the morals/learning conveyed in a non-preachy tone. If you are tired of preaching life lessons, and kids don’t listen to you, you might as well try asking them to read this book!

There are a group of kids who get into difficult situations sometimes because they don’t listen to their parents and other times because some terrorists or witches decided to kidnap them. Every time, they over-power their adversaries and return triumphantly, and learn a lesson or two in the end. These are almost like stories with morals but are written in a light tone woven with adventures and hence might catch the attention of kids.

Although the main characters are sons and daughters of army men — hence supposed to be brave — I don’t think they could actually overpower kidnappers and terrorists in the way they have done in this book! The author makes conflicts look so simple, especially when you read it wearing your adult glasses. But then, for the intended age group, I guess that should be OK. Maybe even fun

Personally, I loved the message given by the saint: Choose to look at the inherent goodness in things and people and that will be reciprocated! A valuable lesson even and especially for adults Altogether a good book that you can confidently give to your kids. Just keep your fingers crossed — they *might* learn a thing or two from this book and apply them to their life!

The idea of writing a book because a kid kept pestering the author to write a book for him is so sweet

Destination Infinity

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AC Bus Stop in Chennai @ St. Thomas Mount

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You won’t believe what I saw yesterday: An AC Bus Stop in Namma Chennai! Actually there are three bus stops with AC cabins situated next to each other, in the St. Thomas Mount area (right opposite to the upcoming Alandur Metro station). But only the one in the middle is functioning and open to public, currently. When you cross the Guindy junction and start moving towards Tambaram, this bus stop will come on your right hand side.

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It seems this AC bus stop has been set up with the help of private sponsorship by the local Cantonment Board. As you can see above, there is a huge advertising board on the top, there are two boards on the side, and there is a TV inside which will run ads in the future (right now, it shows the CCTV footage). Here’s the STAR of the Day: The Air Conditioner installed inside:

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It’s an OGeneral Inverter AC! They have appointed a security guard to take care of this AC Bus Stop which is covered by CCTV surveillance too. It seems this AC facility will be open to public from early morning to 10:00 PM in the night. After that, to avoid unruly elements, they keep it locked. Since I went on a Sunday evening, I found only two people enjoying the AC (which was cool enough, btw). Here they are:

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There were a few others in this stop, but they were outside the AC room as they had to catch the bus once it arrives. I guess people nearby/going by this way/stopping to take a bus from here can use this as a resting place, if they have time. Let’s hope this place will be maintained well and be used properly by the public. Maybe if this experiment succeeds, we might get more AC bus stops across the city

Destination Infinity

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Chennai Jackfruit Festival 2015

So last Sunday I went to the Chennai Jackfruit Festival 2015 @ Chennai Trade Center, Nandambakkam. This was a themed event held from May 01 – 03, where all the food items sold in the various stalls had one thing in common: Jackfruit! Being in Chennai, how could I miss this? Here are some sightings and eatings from there

Jackfruit Crisps & Jelly:

The crisps were cool, didn’t try the jelly but I guess it would’ve been great.

Jackfruit Ice cream:

This was the best of what I ate inside the expo. The jackfruit ice cream was too good

Jackfruit Nuts Cake:

Didn’t try this, but I guess it should be good?

Crispy Tacos with Vegetable Salad:

Another awesome dish I ate there. The outer crispy layer is made of corn it seems and the inner vegetable salad includes jackfruit also. Good

Jackfruit Halwa:

Nowadays, I’ve become a little health conscious. That’s why I just tasted this, but did not eat the whole box! Not as good as other halwas, but still fine

Jackfruit Pazham Pori:

This pazham pori is generally made of banana, and you get it in Kerala. But this one is made of jackfruit and was available just outside the expo, along with the food stalls. Of course it was good. There were many more items available. For further details, refer to the Chennai Jackfruit Festival website.

While we are on the topic of food, are you guys aware of Foodpanda.in website? You can type the name of your city in India, and the name of a locality, and it will list all the restaurants available in/around that area with the menu/pricing, if available. Check it out! Also, Foodpanda Cares is involved in a number of CSR activities like supporting Akshaya patra which is an NGO providing mid-day meals for kids.

Destination Infinity

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Chennai Value Summit 2015, Event Highlights

I got a chance to cover this event, Chennai Value Summit 2015, as a Blogger. It was held at The Residency Towers, T. Nagar, on May 01 and was organized by Bhavani.

What creates Value in Business? How have successful business people created so much value? That seemed to be the topic for discussion. Some eminent personalities who had developed their own successful businesses or helped others develop their businesses, were invited to speak. Audience had a chance to ask some questions.

Before the event began, Bloggers were allowed to have a short round table discussion with the panelists where we spoke about the theme of the event, net neutrality, why we do not have many products developed out of India still, etc.

Then the event began and each of the panelist spoke about their perception of what creates Value in Business. Some highlights:

C. Mahalingam (Mali, Executive Coach & HR Advisory): Harnessing the innovation and passion of individuals creates value.

Sridharan Sivan (Founder, S 10 Healthcare Solutions): Aligning everyone’s dreams towards a common goal creates value. Value Added Tax by the Govt. is an easy way to understand the concept of value!

Rangarajan M (Executive Director, Servion): Quoted what TVS Iyengar told: “Buy/Make for 8 rupees, Sell for 10 rupees, Make customer believe they’ve got equivalent to 15 Rupees. That is value.”

Maran (Chairman, Kaar Technologies): If you wake up and love to start work in the morning, you are in the right career. If not, time to change or start up. If you love what you do, you’ll create value.

Sadhana, Joint Managing Director of Focus Infotech, was the moderator. She too chipped in with words of wisdom. While emphasizing on the importance of belief, passion, and hard work, she told us that employees should be Workafrolics, who like what they do, to create value.

K. Jayaramakrishnan, Consultant – TCS, was the special invitee/chief guest of the day and he told us that companies should focus 70% on taking care of their employees and only 30% taking care of their customers. Because satisfied employees will in turn take care of customers.

Then we broke off for the networking dinner where I met some interesting people. Altogether, a great experience. Looking forward to the next edition of the Chennai Value Summit.

Destination Infinity

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My Bangalore Chronicles

So last week I went to Bangalore to attend the Green Summit 2015, Renewable Energy expo. I found a Solar Car (Car with embedded solar panels on the top) displayed by Manipal University and Tata Power Solar. I hope we’ll be able to buy such cars in the future.

From Chennai, I first went to Hyderabad to attend Manogna‘s marriage reception. Yeah, I do take efforts to retain blog readers

What I Love About My New Camera: Canon PowerShot SX520 HS

I don’t think even people who have bought High-end DSLRs will create so much publicity for their camera, but I have been blowing my own trumpet in Facebook, and now in my blog!

To Walk or Take a Bus?

That was my dilemma during my recent Hyderabad trip – To walk or take a bus? Actually, the house I was staying in was not far enough to take a bus, and was not close enough to walk, from the Secunderabad Railway station. I ate a heavy lunch at Chutneys and came to the Secunderabad junction. I wanted to walk back home.

So I spotted two people who were looking polite and well dressed, and asked them: “Sir, do you know which way I need to walk to go to East Marredpally?”

One person lifted his hands for showing the way, but retreated immediately. “Are you going to walk all the distance?” he asked, looking at me with a shocked expression.

“Yes,” I said, “Actually I’ve had a heavy meal and feel like taking a long walk. Might help with digestion too, you know.”

“Your food will get digested alright, but you will ALSO FAINT. DON’T BE A KANJOOS – take the bus,” he ordered. I protested saying I wanted to walk. After two minutes of discussion we came to an amicable conclusion that I will walk until the next bus stop, and then take a bus from there. All of us were happy and we parted amicably. He also showed me how to go to the next ‘Plaza’ bus stop.

I went there and found two more decent looking gentlemen standing there. I promptly went and asked them which bus will take me to East Marredpally.

They were astounded. “What? Why do you want to take a bus to go to East Marredpally? If you go by this way, you’ll reach West Marredpally. Take a right and you’ll get East Marredpally. DON’T BE SO LAZY – just walk.”

Hmm… Looks like it doesn’t matter whether I take the bus or walk. To them, I am ALWAYS WRONG

Destination Infinity

PS: This is an actual incident, not fiction!

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Volunteer & Help Grow a Forest: Sadhana Forest, India!

A Short Video Introduction to Sadhana Forest:

Sadhana Forest is a noble initiative near the Integrated Township – Auroville & Pondicherry, South India where thousands of volunteers from around the world are trying to (re)build a tropical dry evergreen forest by planting trees native to the region, and by recharging the water table of the region, on a land that was almost barren a few years ago. The great news is: You can also help them by volunteering!

It seems Sadhana Forest was started in 2003, and since then they have planted more than 29,000 trees in this region of India. They have also increased the water table of the region by more than 6m by constructing check-dams, etc. Their aim is to regrow the tropical evergreen forest which was available in abundance in the coastal region of South India, even a few decades ago. As you can guess, we have felled all the trees for our “developmental” activities.

I attended a demonstration of wick irrigation technique used by them in Sadhana Forest to water plants efficiently using just a plastic bottle and a cotton rope (as shown above). As you can guess, water is filled in the bottle and percolates through the rope (one side of which is placed close to the root), little by little. This technique uses less water than just pouring water around a sapling, as water can be directed closer to the roots and there is minimum loss of water through percolation, evaporation, etc.

The Director of Sadhana Forest, Aviram Rozin, introduced Sadhana Forest and explained the irrigation technique to us, at REStore, Chennai, as a part of the “Auroville in Chennai” events.

He told us they welcome volunteers, both from India and abroad. According to their website, Stay, WiFi, charging facility for laptop, etc. for the volunteers is free of cost at Sadhana Forest, but there is a small charge of Rs. 400 ($7 USD) per day for the Vegan food they provide daily. The minimum volunteer duration is 2/4 weeks, depending on the season. More details about Volunteering at Sadhana Forests is here. They also accept donations, and they are partly sustained by support of donors from across the world via the Gift Economy model.

Further Information/Website: Sadhana Forest.

Destination Infinity

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My Man Jeeves – P. G. Wodehouse (Book Review)

My Man Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse is the first second full-length humorous book I read recently. Just before reading this, I tried to read ‘Three Men in a Boat’. Although that book was funny (until where ever I dropped it), it tested my patience without a story, or a story that moved tooooooo slow. So I dropped it mid-way.

But this book, at least in comparison, is a GEM. It’s more like a collection of short stories

First thing first. Whatever the name of the protagonist (Pepper?), he has been created as such an adorable character by the author. I think the characterization is one of the biggest advantages of this book. Jeeves – his maidservant, by contrast, is not adorable, but is resourceful and still likeable. All the other characters are realistic – there are surprisingly no cardboard characters in this book, to the credit of the author!

The second thing that worked in this book is the slightly difficult (but by no means disastrous) situations the main character is put into frequently. Often, he walks into those situations himself! The author surely has a lot of imagination

The vulnerability of the main character is what makes the book humorous, IMO. If he was created stronger – I don’t think, even with all those innovative situations, this book would have worked. The writing style needs a special mention: The Royal British English definitely adds charm to the writing. Wonder how good this book would have been if an American or an Indian author had written it!

Altogether, an excellent humorous read for a pleasant weekend. Don’t miss reading a humorous classic

Gutenberg Download link for eBook (Free): My Man Jeeves.

Destination Infinity

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