Delhi Goes Green: Ecofest at American Centre

Eco Fest 2010 organized by KRITI Team with the American Centre was a three day event (4-6th June). An Eco competition was held which saw active participation from students in the form of paintings, photographs, small installations and poetry on the given themes:
-The impact of the preparations for the Commonwealth Games on Delhi's environment
-Climate change: Myth or reality?
-My contribution: My Eco-footprint

Winners took home eco-friendly prizes! (I won….yippee after a really long time) :)

Eco Art Workshops where they taught you how to make attractive bags, stationary items, etc by recycling stuff and using your junk was rightly named ‘Waste et al creations’. There were innovative dance and puppet performances too depicting climate change and its effect on environment. ‘Eco Reels’ saw screening of documentaries and children’s films like: Shruti and Kuki, The Jungle Gang meets the Rhino, The Story of Stuff, The Story of Bottled Water and The Groundwater UP Project. Other highlights included the EcoHaat, a collection of useful ecofriendly products made by low income community groups for display and sale that provide us alternative options to consume in a sustainable and ethical way. The EcoCafe with a selected organic food menu and drinks that were healthy and tasty for the palette saw a huge rush. There were EcoBins set up at different places within the venue for people to bring recyclable material like paper, plastic, tetra packs, as well as old clothes to get them recycled.

The festival brought together a combination of educational, entertainment and consumption related activities that can enable us to live and work in an eco-friendly manner. Such gatherings show us the right spirit of celebrating World Environment Day (5th June)....go Delhi....go Green!

Fishy Issue: Bhopal Gas Tragedy

The verdict for Bhopal Gas Tragedy is out and has been creating a lot of waves in the media and among the citizens. I have collected some data which hints towards an international conspiracy, and how the issue was brushed under the carpet, check it out and decide for yourself.

The Indian government filed a law suit in an US court and claimed damages worth $3.3 billion, in 1985. In February 1989, the Indian Government, led by Rajiv Gandhi, reached an out of court settlement with Union Carbide for $470 million, about 14% of what they originally claimed. Why did the govt bend so much? Because of the US pressure?

Arjun Singh, the CM of Madhya Pradesh when the disaster happened, 'got a call from someone, and he just obeyed the orders' to treat the Chief of Union Carbide warren Anderson as a state guest when he was "released" on bail, put on a state government flight, and flown to New Delhi. Anderson left the country soon thereafter, never to return ever again. Singh went on to become the Union Cabinet Minister for HRD in the early 90's and in the 2004-2009 UPA government.

Do you know who the lawyer for Dow Chemicals, which took over Union Carbide in 2000, is? Abhishek Manu Singhvi. Do you want to know what his official position now is? He is the official spokesperson of the Congress party at the national level.

Dont you think there's something fishy?? Feel free to comment.

Finally my exams get over!! :)

Yippeeeeeeee!! I am back. Yes, so finally my exams got over. Now I have lots to look forward to. But well am not going to celebrate too much (at least not yet).
Not waiting for the results; but planning to enjoy! I'm back to normal!! Meanwhile, give some excuses I can tell my parents if I don't get expected grades?
P.S:- This probably will be the shortest post in a long time to come.

Auto Expo 2010 messes my day

My college had reopened after the winter vacations on 8th January 2010, even in this chill they did not think of extending our holidays till at least a few more days! Nevertheless I got up and was dressed by 10:30, though my college starts at 1 o’ clock I left early with my dad so that I could return my library books. He dropped me at Moti Nagar metro station from where it takes me about 1 hr to reach Pragati Maidan. As soon as the metro arrived on the platform…whoaaaa….I couldn’t believe my eyes!! It was so crowded that people literally fell out when the doors opened. It was announced “Please don’t board this metro it is overcrowded, we are increasing the frequency of metro to one minute. Kindly wait and board the next one.” I had no choice but to wait. I waited for the next one to come, but even this was equally crowded. I missed a few more of them, I then glanced at my watch it was 11:30, now I had to board it somehow. As soon as the next one came I jumped in and some other passengers who were waiting like me equally frustrated pushed me in. Thank god finally I was at least inside metro! I somehow managed to reach Pragati Maidan – crushed, dilapidated, and half dead. On getting down I got to know the reason for this madness – Auto Expo 2010, Delhi!! But this wasn’t the end of my trauma; there was a huge crowd at the bus stop as well. I was so mad after all this that I had turned into a wild beast. As soon as the bus I had to board arrived, I jumped in and people won’t believe but I got a seat too. It was 12:30 by now and I had half an hour to reach college, but seeing the traffic around me I felt hopeless. Dragging the bus somehow the buswalla managed to get us out of the traffic jam, and I reached college exhausted 25 minutes late (thanks to the traffic). I will remember “Auto Expo -2010” throughout my life because of the mess it created for me; I was late though I had left early from my place. If you’ve never been to Delhi, then this is the kind of traffic we have here – it makes you go mad!

Finally my bus pass is made!

I am so happy :) Geeeeeeeeee I can’t stop smiling! After almost 8 months of college finally I got it made….huhh what a relief! It took me two long months to figure out which bus depot to go to get it made, then it took me another four months to get it verified with all my documents in place. And then the biggest blunder of all was waiting to happen, suddenly the govt. thought of increasing the fares of the DTC buses and the rate of bus pass…bad for a girl on a tight budget like me (I know its same for a lot of other students). As it is “Mission Bus Pass” had become a pain in the neck, and on top of that this problem. No one seemed to know the increased bus fares, the increased bus pass rate, I was confused. In November I somehow managed to reach the bus depot with time in hand and got to know that they were making it for one month only! I was so heartbroken I fought with my dad…..with my dad (those who know me would know how serious this was cause I love him a lot). So finally in November I got to know that they are making it for 4 months now and that too for 415 Rupees, not much. In December I had my exams so today a day before my college opened I went all the way from my place in north Delhi to Nehru place bus depot in south Delhi (see the pic above) in this chilly winter and finally got it made! Now I can rest for four months and after that to renew it I’ll have to undergo the grueling session again! Bhagwan agli baar bacha lena…please!

Tarang 2009 rocked !!

Tarang 2009 our college fest rocked like anything this time!! We enjoyed it a lot, the fest which was a three day event was especially entertaining and an exhilarating experience for all the LSR freshers like us! The fest span three days i.e. 13th to 15th November. The first day of the fest was the usual boring routine as all fests are, but it was great seeing your college in a new avatar, banners and decorations completely changed the look of our college!! On the second day of our fest, i.e. 14th the Saturday, there were a lot of interesting competitions like Indian music competition, Movie screening, Rangoli competition, street plays and Confessions of a tattoo. In the evening there was a mind-blowing performance by the famous band Advaita. The last day of the fest drew the maximum crowd as it was super packed with loads of interesting events like the Stage play competition, followed by Indian Music competition, Hindi poetry competition and Hive – splash of music. In the evening we had an awesome ending of the fest by the DJ night! For a fresher like me the experience was mind-blowing!!!

Exhausted after JMC event

Our second try at inter college competitions….pheww! We went to Jesus and Mary College History department fest and participated in the Newspaper design event. Our idea was appreciated for its innovativeness and cuteness, but it didn’t help us in winning. As usual they gave it to someone who had copied the coverage of the newspaper that came out on the day of our independence. Okay it was beautiful and a great event they had shown, but I thought maybe “Designing” something means making something new….guess I was wrong! We had tried showing the upcoming Commonwealth Games 2010 – Delhi, but I think the idea went above their heads and just appeared “cute”! Exhausted….that’s all that’s coming to my mind right now!!