#PriceofLiving

“10 years ago when I came to Bangalore it was much cleaner & greener”; said my uncle who recently visited us from US. I knew wouldn’t be able to defend that one, for what he said was absolutely true. Not just Bangalore but most of our cities today battle with congestion. Congestion due to traffic, due to people moving into the city in search of their livelihood, congestion due to waste.

Our cities have not just grown in last decade, but the growth has been so rapid that the only excuse we hear is: “What could we do, we just couldn’t plan for it.” We blame Politicians & their governance; bureaucrats, municipal corporation officials, contractors and even #corruption. This is no new story, and certainly not a Bangalore or for that matter India Story. It is the Growth Story. The story which we don’t like hearing. The story which we don’t want to believe. The story which comes with a “Price”.

Nothing comes easy, nothing comes free as they say. My father-in-law, in search of job moved from small village in Kerala to Bombay. He joined a reputed news paper co as journalist. At peak of his career he was offered an option to relocate to Bangalore. He sought time to think and an option to see the city before he could decide. Bangalore, he felt, was too cold in terms of weather, too slow in terms of city life and that it certainly wasn't the city where he felt ‘comfortable’ in terms of working life. He thought he would rather prefer retiring in Bangalore later someday. My parents too had never thought of moving out of Bombay, for the maximum city had offered them everything in Maximum. Transfer or relocation in those days was considered a matter of comfort in terms of “Quality of living”.

I moved out of Mumbai in 2005, 10 years after the city became Mumbai from being called Bombay. I would never have thought about moving out if not for my father’s insistence and an irresistible employment opportunity. The only consideration then was the “Cost of living”. I made a choice of becoming an #Hyderabadi from being a #Mumbaikar, with a thought that I am moving from the #costliestcityinIndiatolive to the #happiestcityinIndia. When someone asks me today about moving, the only thought that comes to my mind is the #price I have to pay for it. The issues of losing greenery, air and water pollution and human safety persists everywhere.

“Can nothing be done about this?”, asked my colleague who is potentially relocating elsewhere for a better opportunity. I did not want him to lose hope so I did say that, he need not worry and things aren’t as bad as it seems or is being portrayed by some sections within media.

‘Things aren’t as bad as they seem’, yes it is true for today. But what world are we creating for ourselves for tomorrow?

Things can certainly change. 

• If you think that by allowing odd-even numbered cars to be driven in Delhi, pollution can come down, it may have an impact; but we need more,
• If you think that by banning sale of diesel cars can do miracles, it might; but we need more,
• If you think by planting more trees it can make cities like before, you are right, it will; but we need to find space to plant millions of them in and around places we live, work,
• If you think  Passing of  #ParisClimateChangeResolution can be a game changer, it very well may be; but we definitely need specific action by each one of us to make an impact.
• We need more of everything! Every small act of yours would count! Success is SUM OF SMALL EFFORTS, repeated day In and day out!

Together let’s bring in that change before we have to pay the #Priceofliving!

Stay Healthy & Stay Blessed

Gopal Iyer

Repair, Recycle, Re-Use OR Replace?

As a ‘millennial or a Gen Y kid’, I had the privilege to get new toys, new clothes once every 6 months at least. With both parents working, that was something that was possible for them. My Mom has still preserved my first toy car! Preserve, another word that probably doesn’t resonate with our generation. Today we consume everything and probably Trash it.

My Dad used to tell me each time I asked him for a new pair of clothes, that he had only a pair of clothes that he used for almost 10 years. Not that he couldn’t afford more, but he felt that that was probably enough to survive. Thinking of it, I am just amazed at not just their thought process of buy only what you need, but also at the quality clothing that lasted for 10 years. We live in a very different world today though!

As the world opened its doors to Chinese Imported goods in 80’s it meant kids could enjoy variety of new games, new apparels. Decades later the trend still continues. As the imports grew, sales grew and locally manufactured goods, which probably were of better quality were off the shelves to accommodate the Imported Goods. Classic example were the BPL and Crown TV’s which gave way to Samsungs and LG’s.

My uncle got me my first wrist watch (the real one) Casio Digital in the 90’s. I continued the hobby of collecting of watches when I started working in early 2000’s. From Hand Wound HMT Wrist Watches to Solar watches, technology had evolved; as it has even further in everything we use today. With a couple of Wrist watches that ran out of batteries, I drove almost an hour to get the batteries replaced. When I couldn’t find a single repair shop, I started thinking, whether ‘Repairing’ was even done these days.

As a Teenager, I loved fixing basic technology issues myself, and used to run to a shop next door to get electrical appliances repaired. We have transitioned from electrical appliances to electronic goods today, which probably is complex to fix, or may be the cost of fixing it is so high that you can get the devise replaced.

With an urge for Change and be trendy we are replacing everything around us at a much faster rate than we did ever. Industries in their urge to stay relevant keep upgrading their products and launch a new one every 2 years, some every 2 months. But an need for change has to be carefully balanced with a change within. Ask yourself, what do you need? Imagining a world where we were to only buy and then continuously replace everything around us instead of repairing them and trashing old ones sends chills down my spine. World will be nothing but a dumping ground.

As they say whatever we have with us today has come from the Soil of earth. Food that we eat, water that we drink, plastics, wood, glass, metals we use, everything! We are fortunate to get best of everything that we have around us today. But our future generations may not be luckier enough as we are creating nothing but a mountain of waste which takes hundreds of year to decompose.

It’s always been a world of contrasts, where on one had some of us have everything in abundance and on the other hand the deprived struggle for their basic needs.

That said, if you still wish to replace, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to repair and reuse (OLX pe bech de!) or even consider donating.