Saturday, September 20, 2014

We are like this only

“I can talk English, I can walk English, I can laugh English because English is a very funny language” is popular dialog uttered by Amitabh Bachchan in the movie ‘Namak Halaal’ in 1982. People may assume that Indians don’t know English but they have confident enough in everything they do.
The language is not too funny but as Indian is full of confident people who have written and spoken in much innovative and experimented way, they ended up converting English into Hinglish,.
Hinglish is a mixture of the words “Hindi and "English". Many speakers do not realize that they are including English words into Hindi sentences or Hindi words into English sentences. The idea of Indian English is also known as Indianism. 
'pphunny' for funny, 'pphor' for four/for and 'iskool' for school are some examples of hinglish
 
See, some of the sentences how a student wrote an essay on ‘Cow’ in a competitive exam. “The cow is a successful animal. Also he is quadrupud, and because he is female, he gives milk, but will do so when he is got child. But he has got four legs together. Two are forward and two are afterwards. She chew with his teeth whom are situated in the inside of the mouth”.  
 
The cause behind the new English of India is lack of command over the language which can happen with anyone and any language but Indian English gives everyone valid reasons to laugh and refresh.
 
Indians get overwhelmed with the idea of using ‘Only’ and ‘No’ at the end of every sentence. It actually makes every sentence very easy to complete. ‘I am here only, ‘We are always having fun like that only’. ‘You are coming to the party no, Come no, I will miss you no’
 
Some of the Indian eateries and clothes shop have so funny shop names which change the whole meaning of the word and you cannot just control your laugh. Example: Sharma sweets and snakes, Ladies bottom - Rs 199 onwards, and Idly sambar becomes Italy samber.
 
A pathology sign board which says Blood, stool, urine, seman and pregnancy are tasted here. There is nothing to surprise if the patient dies before anything of his getting tasted. 
 
Fortunately, if Indians provide thousands reasons to bring smile on millions of people, they make you emotional too. ‘Pardesi babu’, a bollywood film released in 1998 and a popular song starring Govinda, had beautiful wordings, representing India says “Jaha pao me payal, hath me kangan, ho maathe pe bindiya, it happens only in India”

 

Saturday, September 13, 2014

We are like this only

Vikram kapoor

“I can talk English, I can walk English, I can laugh English because English is a very funny language” is popular saying by Amitabh Bachchan in the movie ‘Namak Halaal’ in 1982. People may assume that Indians don’t know English but they do, even if it means literally translating a sentence thought out in another language.
Infact the problem for most Indians is that they end up converting English into Hinglish,
Hinglish is a mixture of the words “Hindi and "English". Many speakers do not realize that they are including English words into Hindi sentences or Hindi words into English sentences. The literal translation from ones mother tongue into English is also known as Indianism, and can really perplex a true English man. 
 
This is how a student wrote an essay on the ‘Cow’ in a competitive exam. “The cow is a successful animal. Also he is quadrupud, and because he is female, he gives milk, but will do so when he is got child. But he has got four legs together. Two are forward and two are afterwards. She chew with his teeth whom are situated in the inside of the mouth”.  
 
'Don't eat my brains' is a literal translation from Hindi where a euphemism is used in Hindi chastising someone not to worry them and if that is translated literally and Indianism is born.   
 
Indians use the words ‘Only’ and ‘No’ at the end of every sentence. Take for example --‘I am here only, ‘We are always having fun like that only’. ‘You are coming to the party no, Come no, I will miss you no’ this is not true blue English but it is accepted parlance in India which a foreigner might not understand.
 
Some of the Indian eateries have very funny shop names which change the whole meaning of the word and it difficult to control your laugh. Take for example: "Sharma sweets and snakes, Ladies bottom, Rs 199/- onwards", and Idly sambar becomes "Italy samber".
 
A sign board which is put up at a diagnostic centre boldly proclaims-- Blood, stool, urine, seman and pregnancy are tasted here. Don't be too surprised if the patient dies before anything of his gets tested. 
 
Fortunately, these Indianisms are able to bring a smile on millions of people's faces. ‘Pardesi babu’, a Bollywood film released in 1998 had a popular song starring Govinda, with an excellent line summing up an Indianism “Jaha pao me payal, hath me kangan, ho maathe pe bindiya, it happens only in India”

 

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

The Power of air is here in India

Vikram kapoor

You may have played with paper wheel attached with a thin wooden stick scrolling speedily with the flow of wind. A kid gets excited and become energetic when he observes the rotation of the colourful paper wheel.

As a kid, we may not have realised the importance of wind in our life but today, the same wind is helping the world to create electricity in large areas of different countries. 

With the similar concept of this paper toy, engineers have developed advanced and heavy wind turbines which are placed in the wind farms to create electricity with the help of big power generators in many states of India.
India started its renewable energy mission in early 70’s. 

Today, it is worlds one of the largest renewable energy programmers. It can be seen in remote villages, metros and huge industries.  

This will help in operating small industries and thousands of villages. Indian companies are producing modern turbines and related components ingeniously therefore India is growing much faster than the global market which is the result of its high potential

With the tag of a complete developing nation, today, Indian wind energy already has the 5th largest installed capacity in the world and is set to grow at a rapid pace driven by investments from the private wind turbine manufacturers. The total installed power capacity was 19,565 MW on June 30, 2013.

More than 95 percent of total nation’s wind energy generates from just five states like Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and Rajasthan. Most of the Installed Wind Capacity in India is located in the southern and industrial states of the country.

The other states like UP, Bihar lacks sufficient Wind Energy Capacity despite having high power tariffs and substantial electricity deficits.

In the current environment of global concern over climate change, we must look critically at the operational efficiency of clean energy power plants and increase energy efficiency which can be achieved through different sources of renewable energy.

With the increasing population and demand in a country like India, electricity is the basic need which lacks in most of the rural India and this is also one of the major causes of lack of economic growth in the country.

According to Centre for Wind Energy Technology, the wind energy installation in the country in 2011-12 was 3,197 MW which fell to 1,698 MW in 2012-13. The figures slightly picked up to 2,000 MW in 2013-14.

India can get 35% of its power from renewable energy by 2030. Thought the government has not given much importance for the growth of wind energy production and its urgent need in the recent 2014 budget, the government of India decided to add 10,000 MW per year to lift wind energy sector to reduce India's dependence on costly energy imports.

As there is good demand wind turbines installation in India and abroad, like other power gear makers, Indian wind turbine makers too are facing competition from Chinese counterparts that also offer cheaper finance to the investors in wind energy 

The biggest advantage with wind energy is that the fuel is free, and also it doesn’t produce CO2 emission. Wind farm can be built reasonably fast, the wind farm land can be used for farming as well thus serving dual purpose, and it is cost-effective as compare to other forms of renewable energy.

One wind turbine can be sufficient to generate energy for a household. Because wind is a source of energy which is non-polluting and renewable, wind turbines create power without using fossil fuels, without producing greenhouse gases or radioactive or toxic waste which also reduces global warming.

There are some of the issues which are hurdles in the way of growth of the wind energy and the development process like Forest land clearance, Creation of infrastructure for power evacuation and transmission facilities, availability of land for wind farms, Potential land mostly acquired by manufacturers/ developers, Implementation of revised tariff as per CERC (Central electricity regulatory commission) guidelines and Development of scheduling and forecasting system.

Thought wind energy is 100% clean and green energy, it has some shortcomings too. Noise disturbances, threat to wildlife(can kill with the turbines) and absence of wind in many places are the demerits which has to be taken care off before planning of the setup of the wind turbines and its location so that these problems can be cured and result in producing safe energy for all.


Sunday, August 24, 2014

All you can eat

Restaurants across the city are offering a host of vegetarian dishes in their buffet options

If any of your relative or friends say that vegetarian food lacks choices and options, you could direct them to the buffet menu of multiple restaurants in the city. Samir Mojumdar, manager of Barbeque Nation at Lido mall says, “We have a live grill concept with five types of vegetarian starters.
He shares that, “Our main course includes five types of salads with dal, vegetarian gravy, rice, different types of breads with 10 varieties of deserts including cakes, pastries, puddings, fresh fruits, halwa, hot gulab jamun, brownie with ice-cream, toppings and other sweet dishes”.
“We serve chats, samosas, Chinese and Gujarati cuisine in our lunch and dinner buffet menu,” says an employee of Village restaurant located at Sarjapur Road. “The restaurant is based on a village theme where we arrange puppet show and dandiya performances. The rates of buffet ranges between Rs 349 to Rs 399 in weekdays and weekends.” .


A manager from Sanjeevanam restaurant says, “We serve five types of special juices, four types of fresh vegetables, four types of semi-cooked vegetables and lunch. ” He adds, “White sugar, maida, food colour and preservatives are not used in our food. Shivram from Chutney Chang Bangalore says, “We offer 20 varieties of sweet dishes and our vegetarian steam momos are liked . Raghuvendra from Konark restaurant, Residency Road says, “We serve only vegetarian food with weekend special menu for our lunch buffet which has an extra soup, starter and extra cake item in dessert.”

Selling like hot cakes

People are picking up merchandise of their favourite sides from the World Cup

With football fever raging across the country, merchandise comprising of jerseys of the top teams participating in the World Cup in Brazil has made its way to the streets of Bangalore. Surya manages a merchandise store in Brigade road. He says, “We sell football jerseys of all teams . Our collection includes round neck t-shirt style and collar neck jerseys priced between Rs 699 and Rs 3,000”.
Ricky, one of the store clerks at the Nike outlet says, “We sell polyester skin-friendly jerseys. Though it is a little expensive, many of our customers do not mind spending money on these jerseys.”
Wasim, another store clerk at the Nike showroom says, “People are picking up football merchandise on a large scale. Brazil jerseys are selling like hot cakes.”
Ajay Kumar, a sales clerk at the Puma outlet at Garuda Mall says, “This store only sells the Italian team collection. An Italian team jersey costs nearly Rs. 5,000. We are running out of stock with some sizes.”

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

At least everyone should have freedom to toilet

There are some basic needs in our life which are very important to be fulfilled and toilet is one among them. One may have this facility in their house but that is not enough as there are large number of population who spent most of their work time in streets and roads for their livelihood. The restrooms or washrooms constructed by the government in public places are known as public toilets.
The facility of toilets is not free but these toilets are affordable for the commoners. The charge varies between Rs 2 to Rs 5. People of lower income group or the working class uses these toilets and many poor people who don’t have the sanitation facility also make use of these public toilets.
When we talk about these toilets in India, there are many toilets which are not maintained and are not hygienic at all. Joshua C D, a student from Bangalore feels that public toilets are not clean at all. “Whenever I travelled to other cities by Volvo buses, the bus stops in mid ways for refreshments and the toilets made in mid ways smells like anything” adds Joshua. He also says that sometimes you will not even find water in these toilets.

Today, the needs of toilets are increasing because of increase in population day by day. Apart from other major public issues, the problem of public toilet is great matter of concern so the government has also started looking into these issues. There are public toilets in many cities of India but in some cities, the numbers of toilets are not sufficient according to the present population status.

The west Bengal government said recently that Kolkata is going to get India’s first two-story public lavatories where ground floor will be for ladies and the first and second floors for Gents. Presently it has 225 public toilets and Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will build 170 more toilets. Each toilet will cost Rs 18 lakh where 17 lakh will be contributed by central government.
As per the report in Delhi, there are 3,712 public toilets for men and 269 for women in 10 out of 12 zones of city. Activists say that the lack of toilets for women is a serious problem, not just in cities but also in rural areas. Women are unsafe and using these lavatories is so risky for them that even rapes and other violence also takes place.
The number of toilets in Nagpur is 128 which include 60 pay-and-use toilets maintained by Sulabh International. Most of the urinals installed by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) in several zones are in worst condition.
Vivek roshan, A Bihar police staff says that they always have to travel for duty in different locations of the state so everywhere there is need of toilets. “I usually don’t prefer to urinate anywhere in open because toilets are basic need of life and it should be made in each and every public place” adds Vivek.

Today, public toilet is not only important for the people to get the facility but it is also a place of women security where not only the need of toilet can be fulfilled but at the same time safety of individuals can also be achieved.

Get ready to collect rain water this monsoon

Many of us had ever tried keeping bucket in terrace for the rain water to fill in our childhood days. Do you have ever seen well in anyone’s house premises? It is the traditional way of storing rain water in almost every house in India. The most important aspect of well was that it was used for all the purpose which includes drinking to washing. It may be surprising to listen about it in terms of hygiene but believe it or not it was considered good for all purpose.
Those days are gone when we were not facing as much water issues as we are finding it today. We all know that there is something called ‘water crises’ which we are all familiar with. But do everyone really aware of water problems? In our daily life, many times we hear our parents telling us not to waste water, how many of us has this habit of using minimum water for our maximum uses?
There are simply many questions which may strike to our mind but what are the answers to these problems is again a big question?  Eighty-five per cent of India’s city population has access to drinking water while only 20 per cent of the drinking water is healthy to consume. If the misuse and ignorance with ground water carry on, then as per the Estimations of the Central Ground Water Board, the underground water will go dry entirely by 2025 in near about fifteen States of India. 
 There are many simple ways to start rain water harvesting which will not only help in saving water but can also lead to environmental revolution. There are several methods in which each and every individual can put their small effort to get rid of this major problem of water.
Rain water harvesting is an artificial way of collecting water only when rain occurs. It can be collected from roof top, lakes, tanks etc.
Roof top: In this type of water storage system, tanks are attached through pipes near the roofs of houses so that all the water fall on roof can easily get collected in the big tanks. The tanks of water usually exist in the terrace and directly connected to all the taps of house through pipes. Even these water tanks can also be connected to roof then water can be collected not only in the harvesting tanks but the terrace tanks as well.
Lake: lakes are both natural and artificial. Artificial lake is area filled with water which has lands on sides. The construction of lake is done for agricultural and industrial use. The rain water directly falls on the lakes and the level of water rises as the rain falls on it.
Tanks: tanks are the most common water storage system of present scenario. It is the storage system of water in big tanks either on the terrace or on the ground so that rain water can be collected into it.

The benefits of rain water harvesting:
The stored water can be used in summers for all the basic household as well as industrial purpose. The collected water can be used to recharge the bore wells through pipes connected to both tanks as well as bore well. This will help underground water to not to go dry. One do not has to depend on the water supply timings. The stored water can be used anytime. It also used to water the plants so that good amount of water can be directly used for many big and small purposes. These days government takes water charges for giving water service to their homes, industries etc. if you have your own water storing system, the water bill may reduce.
In Indian, good amount of rainfall occurs every year but on the other hand many rivers and reservoirs are drying up and getting polluted from industrial and other waste. So due to lack of proper public water storage systems, the major water crises are taking place.
There are several video clips made to create water awareness among the citizens of India like bacha bacha ke, barso re, rain drops are falling, tera mera mat kar.
If we talk about conserving water and the recharge of ground water, In February 2009 the government of Karnataka made it compulsory for all the buildings to make arrangement for rain water harvesting.it included residential sites, which has an area of more than 2400 sq ft (40 x 60 ft) should create this plan as per law.
Vishal, a BBM student says that he has studied a lot about environmental problems in school days. “There was a time when I used to study EVS in class six but now I felt about the real need of protecting ourselves by saving each and every drop of water” adds Vishal. 
A student from Bangalore, Kiran feels that wasting water is like wasting money. “Whenever I see water flowing here and there without any reason, I feel too bad when I cannot do anything to save that water”.

 Even if the government is not able to help in rain water harvesting, student’s contribution can lead to a great matter of inspiration not only for their family but also for reforming society as well. It also leads people to make them aware of saving water by different traditional as well as modern methods in their households. Once it will start working, many relatives, friends as well as neighbours will keen to know about the system and by this way it can be one of effective process in saving water.