-Some wise woman.
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
Thursday, 4 February 2010
Prescribing paths to holiday happiness
Sick of picking and choosing from the same old sun and sand holidays and hill station breaks? Well, holidays are meant to get you away from the mundane. No wonder the days of packaged tours are long gone! And with the winter break just round the corner, it’s time you start chalking out your plans to make your vacation extra special. Here are some ultra simple mantras that can transform your vacation from just-another-break to a memorable and exhilarating experience!
The top mantra for holiday happiness is to let the roads less travelled entice you. Pick a place that does not feature in the typical list of tourist destinations. That’s the first step to making your holiday unusual. Instead of going to Goa to spend the New Year’s Eve, you could opt for the pristine beaches of Gokarna or Karwar. Or even better, you could substitute the usual lounging around in beaches with a white water rafting break in Dandeli! And if you decide to go to Khajuraho, don’t just fix your eyes on the marvelous temples. Pack in more and get to the unexplored fort of Kalinjar, which lies some 120km north-east or just set out to the Panna National Park
Why settle for the same old B&B style lodging? It’s time to try the more enjoyable alternatives! Home stays and estate stays are excellent alternatives. A classic home stay involves living with a local family and having a first hand experience of its customs, cuisine and way of life. What can get better than indulging in a great conversation with your host who knows everything about Kerala and can tell you which Ayurvedic masseuse is the best in town and where exactly you should head for an affair with the gorgeous backwaters! And if you’re heading out for a beach vacation, try a shack instead of the routine sea-facing suite. Try a houseboat or even a home exchange! It’s time to get creative. After all, you don’t want to miss an opportunity to be transformed into a different world!
Instead of depending on tour operators, try using the public transport available in the place that you’re visiting. You get to meet more local people and you can gather suggestions of must-visit locations that are generally unheard of! Since you’ll be saving a lot of money, you can treat yourself to a lavish dinner. And if you are the kind who likes getting behind the wheel, then rent a car! Just make sure you have a valid driver’s license, a full tank and rough directions to your destination. Self-driving is a fabulous way to discover a new place and if you’re terrible at reading maps, do not panic. You just might reach an area that is totally remote, stunningly beautiful, away from mainstream tourism and most importantly, not in any tour guide book!
Learning the local language can enhance your travelling experience, sometimes in ways you never thought of, especially if you are travelling abroad. If you hate the pungent smell of garlic, it might be a good idea to learn the Italian word for garlic, i.e. ‘l'aglio’ (pronounced as ‘Hug Leo’) before you land in Italy
A very essential mantra is to not order the cheesy pasta with sun dried tomatoes in Tokyo! It is uber important to try the local food instead of sticking with the usual favourites. It adds to that unique flavour to your holiday like nothing else does! When you go to Vietnam
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PS: I think I was rather excited about my week long vacation in Maharashtra. So much that it even inspired me to write a travel story! This one appeared in MSN’s Lifestyle column on 16th Dec, ’09. My first ever travel story. Yaaaye :)
Meet the Parents
Want to know how to make a good impression on your partner’s parents? Read on.
Do you wear a taut expression on your face every time you think of meeting your partner’s parents for the first time? Are you afraid of what impression you will make? Since you have decided to take that all important step towards commitment and meet the parents, here is how you can make sure you are well-prepared.
Know your audience
Find out as much as you can about your partner’s parents in advance. Having a fair idea about the kind of people they are will ensure that you’re better prepared to face them. This will help you find common ground that you can focus on in your conversations with them. For example – if the Dad is really fond of cricket - make sure you make a comment about the India Vs. Sri Lanka match that happened last evening. Does the Mum love baking? – Ask her how she makes those soft ginger cookies! And if your partner is from a different community, make an effort to know their customs and practices. Being familiar with their way of life can take you a long way!
Gifting a little something
Avoid going with a gift that is too big or extravagant. The parents would certainly be happy to know that you’re well off, but you can save that expensive gift for a later date! Food gifts are usually a safe choice. A box of assorted nuts or a basket of fresh fruits are welcomed by most Indian households. If it’s an occasion like the parents’ anniversary, you can opt for a bouquet of flowers. And again, ask your partner what their favourites are. A bottle of wine has always been a great choice for a dinner gift, but make sure they are not teetotalers. If you're travelling to meet the parents, consider bringing something that's the specialty of the place where you're coming from, such as Rosogullas from Bengal, or Bhakarwadi from Maharashtra. This will add a ‘getting to know you’ touch to the whole encounter!
Dress to impress
Make sure you dress appropriately. For the men, going to meet the parents in your acid-washed baggy jeans and that Black Sabbath t-shirt that you wore right through college is a complete no-no! We are not asking you to suit up, but being dressed in smart casuals will do you a world of good. As for the ladies, pick an outfit that is not revealing or too dressy. Just wear clothes you’re comfortable in and that flatter your physique but at the same time, look modest. Keep your makeup to the minimal. And oh, don’t forget to wear that sincere smile!
Making good conversation
If you have mastered the art of conversation, then it’s a battle almost-won. Don’t ever appear to be indifferent, even if what they’re discussing is the last thing you did be interested in. Ladies, listen to the mother’s stories about your man and look at any baby photos she might want to show you - even if your boyfriend is cringing and trying to change the subject! Even for the men, this is a brilliant ploy, especially when you are stuck for conversation. After all, which parent doesn’t love discussing their offspring? Avoid harping on controversial subjects like religion and politics. And of course, the men should be prepared for some interrogation about their career goals! It may help to have ready answers for probable questions. Yes, it can be as painful as an interview! And most important thing to remember is that the weather can simply be described as ‘extremely cold’, don’t use expletives even if you are used to it!
Be affectionate, but not lovey-dovey!
Be attentive to your partner, but in the right manner. In the sense, you can be nice to your partner by opening the door or pulling a chair for her, or by pouring him some wine. Avoid being too lovey-dovey in the presence of the parents. Well, you may think your partner is a complete hottie, but knowing that he is ‘charming, well-settled and caring’ will suffice for your parents. How much ever parents care about their child having a loving partner, they certainly do not want to see you both kissing and groping! So the key is to be affectionate and very interested in the family and not just your partner.
Of dining and wining
If you're having dinner at their house, make sure you compliment the food. However nervous you are, it is not reason enough to hurry and just pour that drink down your throat! Drink ‘very socially’ and if you think you will end up getting drunk, steer clear of alcohol for the night and just stay sober. A great way to impress is to offer to clear the table or help out with the dishes. If you’re out to eat, offer to pay. More than likely, the parents won’t allow you to pay but they’ll appreciate the offer. And oh, if you are a smoker, do not smoke around the parents. Even if they smoke themselves, they may not appreciate it. To make a great closing impression, tell them how wonderful it was to meet them and what a great meal you had.
Go ahead. Put your best foot forward and be confident.
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PS: Never thought I would write a Relationship story!! Hehe! This appeared in MSN's Lifestyle section on the 22nd of Dec, '09.
Sunday, 26 April 2009
(In)difference
When they decide to drown themselves in gallons of ethanol.
When they blow rings of life away.
When they sell their soul to the craving.
What seems so right to them, the evil treat.
That walk on the beach. The game of cards.
That potluck dinner. The long train ride.
The bliss you feel - the small joys,
Don't matter to them. Not anymore.
When they begin to look like the rest of them,
It's hard to pull 'em back. Astray.
When they blow rings of life away.
When they sell their soul to the craving.
What seems so right to them, the evil treat.
That walk on the beach. The game of cards.
That potluck dinner. The long train ride.
The bliss you feel - the small joys,
Don't matter to them. Not anymore.
When they begin to look like the rest of them,
It's hard to pull 'em back. Astray.
Friday, 20 February 2009
Tackling the Toilet Taboo
When you wake up every morning and have a toilet to use, you should feel lucky. Four out of ten people in the world have no access to toilets. Every twenty seconds, a child dies as a result of poor sanitation. Six out of ten girls drop out from schools on reaching puberty because of lack of water. Toilets, sanitation, sanitary napkins, open defecation - these are not things we like to talk about. But it’s about time we did.
With a percussionist drumming on toilet seats, the rhythmic beat at the last year’s inaugural conference of the World Toilet Association (WTA) seemed to tuck away the cultural taboos surrounding the embarrassing act of defecation. And the UN General Assembly declaring the year 2008 the ‘International Year of Sanitation’ fuelled the restroom revolution. The figures are staggering. 2.6 billion people in the world have no access to toilets and 2.2 billion people die annually from diarrhoea. "When around 4,000 children die each day because they do not have access to these basic services, which we take for granted, something is terribly wrong," said Vanessa J. Tobin of United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Sanitation is not just a good idea, it's a great investment. But, the people believe that a mobile phone is a necessity, and sanitation a non-priority. If the government really wants to do something for the poor, it might as well spend on food, health, education or even roads. Why sanitation? This is the common argument used by the families living below the poverty line, who don’t want to ‘waste’ money on building a toilet. It is estimated that the cost of meeting the target of reducing by half the proportion of people without basic sanitation is about 10 billion US$ per year, from now until 2015. Dr. Shiggeru Omi of World Health Organisation (WHO) says that it isn’t as expensive as it seems. “This sum may seem a lot, but if we reflect we realise that this amount is less than one percent of world military spending in 2005; one-third of the estimated global spending on bottled water, or as much as Europeans spend on ice-creams each year!’’ "Globally, if universal sanitation were achieved by 2015, it would cost $95 billion, but it would save $660 billion," writes Rose George in her newly released book "The Big Necessity." Now this is something that should feature in every Government’s smart saving strategies.
Half of India defecates in the open. The government’s far-fetched dream is to get all these 600 million people to start using toilets by 2012. That seems like a lot of toilets to build in less than four years. But, Kurukshetra district in Haryana has proven a point - providing clean sanitation to everyone is not an impossible task. In this district, a landless labourer’s pride is the outdoor toilet. They have no money to build a door. A jute curtain or a plastic sheet does the job. But they have a constant source of water. So the toilet remains hygienic and there is no stench. The design is a simple one, easy to maintain, with a soak pit that will not pollute the water table.
The women in the Bishangarh village, who are part of the Nigrani (vigilance) Samitis, go around with torches, sticks and whistles early in the morning. If they catch anyone defecating in the open, they blow the whistle and shine the torch on the crouching figure. This embarrasses the villagers to the point that they will not repeat it. No wonder, Bishangarh has received the Nirmal Gram Puraskar, the prize instituted by the central government in recognition of villages that are free of open defecation. West Bengal is also taking the lead in initiating sanitation drives in its villages and is targeted to become the first State in the country to achieve total sanitation by 2012. The State already has 76 per cent households covered, as against 27 per cent in 2001 when the sanitation drive began. Over 90 per cent schools have sanitation and 94 per cent have safe water supply.
While we deal with the problems regarding sanitation, eco-sanitation creeps in. It is the problem of dealing efficiently and ecologically with sewer systems, wastewater, treatment and purification, which is no less serious. In the UK alone, the sewage system emits some 28.8 million tons of carbon dioxide a year. In practice, ecological sanitation includes options such as flush-free (and odour-free) urinals, separation toilets for urine and faeces, dry and composting toilets, dehydration devices for composting of faeces, use of faeces or excreta for the generation of biogas, vacuum sewers and flush systems operating on minimal amounts of water etc. As sewers become overloaded with urban development, drought strikes various regions of the earth, and potable water becomes increasingly scarce, even the flush toilet is now put into question.
Sanitation solutions brought with them challenges like failing water resources, rapid urbanisation and population increases. "Approximately 1.7 billion people, one-third of the world's population, presently live in countries that are water-stressed. This number is projected to increase to about five billion by 2025, depending on the rate of population growth. Projected climate change could further decrease streamflow and groundwater recharge" warned Tobin of the WTA. The solution may lie with the Global Dry Toilet Association, which aims at making dry toilets an essential part of sustainable development, thus securing clean waters and a healthy environment for future generations. They intend to introduce dry toilets together with controlled management of toilet waste and also aim at making people aware of the benefits of dry sanitation. But before all this action takes place, the fundamental problem of providing basic sanitation has to be dealt with.
For us, the rare occasion of using a public toilet seems irksome and sometimes, even disgusting. For someone else, using a toilet signifies health and dignity. Let us not flush and forget.
With a percussionist drumming on toilet seats, the rhythmic beat at the last year’s inaugural conference of the World Toilet Association (WTA) seemed to tuck away the cultural taboos surrounding the embarrassing act of defecation. And the UN General Assembly declaring the year 2008 the ‘International Year of Sanitation’ fuelled the restroom revolution. The figures are staggering. 2.6 billion people in the world have no access to toilets and 2.2 billion people die annually from diarrhoea. "When around 4,000 children die each day because they do not have access to these basic services, which we take for granted, something is terribly wrong," said Vanessa J. Tobin of United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Sanitation is not just a good idea, it's a great investment. But, the people believe that a mobile phone is a necessity, and sanitation a non-priority. If the government really wants to do something for the poor, it might as well spend on food, health, education or even roads. Why sanitation? This is the common argument used by the families living below the poverty line, who don’t want to ‘waste’ money on building a toilet. It is estimated that the cost of meeting the target of reducing by half the proportion of people without basic sanitation is about 10 billion US$ per year, from now until 2015. Dr. Shiggeru Omi of World Health Organisation (WHO) says that it isn’t as expensive as it seems. “This sum may seem a lot, but if we reflect we realise that this amount is less than one percent of world military spending in 2005; one-third of the estimated global spending on bottled water, or as much as Europeans spend on ice-creams each year!’’ "Globally, if universal sanitation were achieved by 2015, it would cost $95 billion, but it would save $660 billion," writes Rose George in her newly released book "The Big Necessity." Now this is something that should feature in every Government’s smart saving strategies.
Half of India defecates in the open. The government’s far-fetched dream is to get all these 600 million people to start using toilets by 2012. That seems like a lot of toilets to build in less than four years. But, Kurukshetra district in Haryana has proven a point - providing clean sanitation to everyone is not an impossible task. In this district, a landless labourer’s pride is the outdoor toilet. They have no money to build a door. A jute curtain or a plastic sheet does the job. But they have a constant source of water. So the toilet remains hygienic and there is no stench. The design is a simple one, easy to maintain, with a soak pit that will not pollute the water table.
The women in the Bishangarh village, who are part of the Nigrani (vigilance) Samitis, go around with torches, sticks and whistles early in the morning. If they catch anyone defecating in the open, they blow the whistle and shine the torch on the crouching figure. This embarrasses the villagers to the point that they will not repeat it. No wonder, Bishangarh has received the Nirmal Gram Puraskar, the prize instituted by the central government in recognition of villages that are free of open defecation. West Bengal is also taking the lead in initiating sanitation drives in its villages and is targeted to become the first State in the country to achieve total sanitation by 2012. The State already has 76 per cent households covered, as against 27 per cent in 2001 when the sanitation drive began. Over 90 per cent schools have sanitation and 94 per cent have safe water supply.
While we deal with the problems regarding sanitation, eco-sanitation creeps in. It is the problem of dealing efficiently and ecologically with sewer systems, wastewater, treatment and purification, which is no less serious. In the UK alone, the sewage system emits some 28.8 million tons of carbon dioxide a year. In practice, ecological sanitation includes options such as flush-free (and odour-free) urinals, separation toilets for urine and faeces, dry and composting toilets, dehydration devices for composting of faeces, use of faeces or excreta for the generation of biogas, vacuum sewers and flush systems operating on minimal amounts of water etc. As sewers become overloaded with urban development, drought strikes various regions of the earth, and potable water becomes increasingly scarce, even the flush toilet is now put into question.
Sanitation solutions brought with them challenges like failing water resources, rapid urbanisation and population increases. "Approximately 1.7 billion people, one-third of the world's population, presently live in countries that are water-stressed. This number is projected to increase to about five billion by 2025, depending on the rate of population growth. Projected climate change could further decrease streamflow and groundwater recharge" warned Tobin of the WTA. The solution may lie with the Global Dry Toilet Association, which aims at making dry toilets an essential part of sustainable development, thus securing clean waters and a healthy environment for future generations. They intend to introduce dry toilets together with controlled management of toilet waste and also aim at making people aware of the benefits of dry sanitation. But before all this action takes place, the fundamental problem of providing basic sanitation has to be dealt with.
For us, the rare occasion of using a public toilet seems irksome and sometimes, even disgusting. For someone else, using a toilet signifies health and dignity. Let us not flush and forget.
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