C'est La Vie;That's life

Thanks to the friend who recently pointed out how we think "Recycling" is an alien, Western concept to India, wherein it's been a part of our "gene psyche" for centuries already. Of course, solar panels, rainwater harvesting etc. are all newer conservation ventures in India, due to dwindling resources throughout the world, more so in populous country like ours. But, what about re-using and recycling within homes? It's definitely not trendy. Been here, people are doing it already. Ok, i'll go with food first. I'm extremely nitpicky about wasting food, which traces back to my middle-income upbringing. My parents' used to literally lament about the food left-overs "going down the drain" through the garbage disposers whenever they come to America. Never struck odd to me there, but now that i'm living in India and having to see poverty directly, every single day....it pains me too to think about gallons of food that we've blissfull

Do you obsessively wash your childrens' hands till the poor skin loses one-inch of epidermis? Are you absolutely convinced that the sole mission in a bacteria's life, is to hunt and infect you and your family? Do cleaning and sanitation products take complete priority in your shopping list? Paranoid about dirt-attacks? Have to have those squeaky-clean floors? Ok, i'll stop now because by now, we all know whoever you are. Here goes a new theory that i came across and thought i'll share. Just for you. Dr. Erika Von Mutius, a health researcher has come up with a new theory to explain why the number of asthma and allergies in children are increasing in the much cleaner West. She dubbed it as "The Hygiene Hypothesis," which states that children who are around numerous other children or animals early in life are exposed to more microbes, and their immune systems develop more tolerance for the irritants that cause asthma. Also, the human immune system has evolved

One enviromental walkathon and lo presto....i morphed into a more sensitive and caring for Mother Earth "me". Started with the basics - no leather, more cotton (not sure if the cotton trees would be happy about this), and definitely NO silk. I've been good so far about not buying and avoiding silk as much as I can (they had to mummy-wrap me on my wedding day), thanks to a book that i read when young, which graphically described about how the silk worms die in their cocoons during the silk-making process. The author thus successfully managed, to emotionally scar the heck out of me - for life. Ok, so I decided to venture further and explore new frontiers. No plastic bags for groceries was next on the agenda. My neighborhood shop keepers who used to sweetly coo in my ears (sales people here can go either extreme- be very rude and ignore you completely or start stalking you behind with overt politespeak) whenever i go in, are starting to hate me now and asking me, "W

Yoga is great. Your body feels fresh, mind feels cleansed, chakras (whatever and wherever they are) get awakened from their long slumber, yada yada....agree. But, what about the poor body parts that have to be tortured along the way with an end result that makes you look like a perfectly twisted pretzel? You start out with great expectations of a novice. It always looks easy when an expert yoga master does it, right? Believe me, it's not. The whole operation is as complicated as, for a lack of an alternate analogy - neuro-surgery?. Well, I personally have no idea how tough neurosurgery is, so it's all an approxi-guestimation here, folks. Back to the yoga, your entire body starts to get kneaded and shaped like baker's dough, while your limbs starts to groan and plead for some sympathy....if you don't stop and listen even then, they start screaming that chakras can please be damned or go sky-diving, they wouldn't care. Finally, after what seems like eternity and y