This is an entry to "The Idea Caravan" sponsored by Franklin
Templeton Investments
The more I read, the more it felt like we are
sitting on time bomb which can boom anytime. Even a cosmopolitan city like Bangalore
is not spared by the evil of water scarcity. There have been reports of water
bed dehydrating. Migration has set the wheel of borewell’s spinning at alarming
rate. Apparently, the city is not equipped to support big populations with
drinking water and sewage needs. The city’s water-bed is drying up and the
water mafia is making people cough for drinking water. A recent study had
scared the living daylights of the IT crowd in the Silicon Valley of India.
What an Idea Sirji
Every time I saw the "Idea" ad on
my Idiotbox, I used to think it to be a lame advertisement which doesn't have
any credibility in reality. "An idea can change the world". How is
that even possible? India is a junkyard of problems ranging from corruption to molestation,
poverty to un-education. We, the Indians are in such a state of affairs that we
can’t do with just an idea but we need a revolution. Every time you switch on
the news channel, there are pre-defined set of depressing events rolling- new
corruption seeing the days of light, lower standards of poverty redefined,
human morality dropping an inch with every passing hour, disrobing the modesty
of women in some part of the country, people in power making money out of children’s
meals or charity; the list goes on and on and on...
I was an optimist person with great zeal of
energy and enthusiasm as a college lad who had big dreams to change the world
and make the country a better place to live for one and all. Then I got out of
college and stepped into the big bad world of rat race trying tooth and nail to
keep myself ahead in the race. Over a decade I realized that optimism and
positive attitude is on a downward trend. I have now become more pessimistic,
cynical and negative in my attitude towards the term “India Rising/Shining”? Every
time I hear someone say something similar to that I laugh it off. In the race
to get higher TRPs, the media has played a spoil sport and probably lost their
vision. How many times have we seen any positive news being flashed zillion
times to create a positive impact on public? But a feud between 2 khans would
get the primetime attention as breaking news and panel discussion. If the media
showcases ONLY faults of our politicians, high profile leaders, how can one
expect a positive attitude in citizens? No wonder people like me have become
cynical which is very well put in the movie “Rang De Basanti”; where they all laugh and say “Is desh ka kuch nahi ho sakta”. Yes,
nothing positive can come in India if we continue on our current path.
Thinking
of all these things I got through “The Idea Caravan” which had a positive attitude
and vision to changing the future of our country. This is an initiative by Franklin Templeton
Investments partnered the TEDxGateway Mumbai in December 2012.
The attractive prizes were encouraging enough for me to browse through the videos,
though with a skeptical mind frame initially. Couple of videos down, I could
feel the lost hope and enthusiasm. It made me realize that all is not lost and we
are not a completely failed country. There is still hope at the end of the
tunnel. There are many unsung heroes, who are the torch bearers of optimism and
humility carving the path for our better tomorrow. These are the real heroes
who have dedicated their life for something completely beyond materialistic façade.
Every single video was a story in itself to
make our lives better. But there is one video which emphasized on “water”
really quenched my thirst for selfless deed.
Video 1: Suprio Das
Suprio has proved that- “Even a mile long
journey starts with a single step”. He didn't wait for people’s approval of
his idea. He followed his instinct and selfless act of materializing Rabindranath
Tagore’s “Ekla Chalo Re”.
The issue with water inspired me to search
and read about it more and landed up in following link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/datablog/2011/jun/28/water-scarcity-africa-middle-east
The more I read, the more it felt like we are
sitting on time bomb which can boom anytime. Even a cosmopolitan city like Bangalore
is not spared by the evil of water scarcity. There have been reports of water
bed dehydrating. Migration has set the wheel of borewell’s spinning at alarming
rate. Apparently, the city is not equipped to support big populations with
drinking water and sewage needs. The city’s water-bed is drying up and the
water mafia is making people cough for drinking water. A recent study had
scared the living daylights of the IT crowd in the Silicon Valley of India.
Hopefully this would eventually delay the
time bomb which is inevitable unless a miracle happens. We are all familiar
with the Cauvery water fiasco or the drastic change in Bangalore’s weather. If
no action is taken, the day is not far when the world would probably turn into water world (1995 movie)
where there is water everywhere but not a drop to drink.
Some actions are being taken by authorities
but we as citizens also have to come together and stand for the cause. At the
end of the day its our city, our country, our earth and we are the one
responsible for our actions.
The study has not just made the authorities
but even the citizens responsible to a certain extent. This recent event led many
Bangalore apartment complexes to install Rain Water Harvesting system. We went one
step ahead and started saving the water discarded from RO water purifiers. This
water is used for car wash or gardens. This is not a revolution, but this one
step of saving discarded water from our purifiers has shown great results and
savings in our complex.
Now the TEDs link has become idea store for
me. The app available for smartphone not only gives easy access during commute,
but also keeps nurturing the positive attitude in me.
People like Suprio and many others have taken
a step towards their passion and Franklin Templeton Investments
with this contest is helping create a bigger foot print. Tiny four
lettered word “Idea” is peeping through the TEDs window and is about to make a
giant leap for humanity. My vocabulary falls short in praise for people like
Suprio but to warp-up I would say- What an
Idea sirji.
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