Go Green: Reality Vs Virtual Reality!

 

How many of us out there have a strong penchant for the preservation of our environment?
The answer would revolve around a resounding Few.
How many of us would have thought about preserving environment but didn’t have time?
There will be many falling under this category.

I have spent most of my time thinking of ways and means to promote and practice “Go Green” initiatives. I was successful at just one act: Switching off my PC before leaving for the day and switching off my monitor whenever I take a break. Almost always when I get a mail regarding “planting saplings,” I get really excited and I start smiling at my PC for no reason, so obvious that it actually draws unwanted attention from my team mates who would blame it on me for their concentration lapse(Get a better reason guys and sorry for disturbing your work; i’m certain that you were probably checking out Vinai thandi varuvaya success pics). I couldn’t make it for the last two occasions of “planting saplings” activity and that’s one thing I’m remorseful about.

There are so many quotations, movies, books, articles etc. I have come across that has stressed the importance of “Go Green,” so much so that they have now become a cliché. Global warming is something that everybody should regard with utmost importance. Global warming, in my opinion, is a “Global Warning” issued by Mother Nature to prevent any calamities that might arise, as a consequence (To feed your alleged inquisitiveness: No, I didn’t see any T.R. movies of late neither am I in an inebriated state.) The harmful effects of Global Warming are being overshadowed by petty issues portrayed by the media which focuses more on the factors that would influence their TRP ratings. On one side, we have global warming while on the other side, we have scandals, politics, sports, and gossips etc. that make it to the headlines. It’s saddening that the media has been concentrating on the latter with little/no news about the former. As always, there are exceptions. In media, it is NDTV. I am really happy on hearing a Greenathon initiative by NDTV alongside Toyota, to save the environment. It happened for two years in a row now. The latest one happened on March 6th at 7PM and continued until 7pm on Sunday, the 7th of March.

The Greenathon mission paved way for some villages from all over the country to be equipped with solar power. This project has been endorsed by TERI, which has named it “Lighting a Billion Lives”. Under this initiative, many villages received solar power, which would otherwise have been devoid of electricity for decades. Saplings were planted at many places all over the country. A waste land was converted into a forest in Karnataka thanks to 6000 enthusiastic volunteers who planted saplings. Around 30000 saplings were planted on Sunday alone.

The happiness one gets after planting a sapling, is priceless. It gives a good feeling from within; something that can only be experienced. There are few virtual reality examples that I would like to consider wherein environment related factors played a dominant role.

• One of them is AVATAR, a virtual reality movie directed by James Cameron that is arguably one of the best movies of all times making an extensive use of technological advancements and its connotations. Humans invade a foreign planet for facilitating a good relationship with the natives and also to study the planet’s biosphere. They ended up destroying the vegetation along with the “tree of voices” since it was said to be on top of massive deposits of unobtainium (something highly desirable that cannot be found; a fantastic, perfect metallic substance). The natives there lived in harmony with nature. The expressions of the animated artists when the “tree of voices” was destroyed really moved me. Finally, the animals and the natives fight back and emerged triumphant. The message to take home from the movie was very obvious: “Save flora and fauna; they save you.” We humans are destroying nature being unaware of the fact that when we harm nature, we are harming ourselves. We need a movie like Avatar to remind us of what we are doing and what we should be doing.

Having said enough about Avatar, there is a game on Facebook that has 1% of world’s population playing it!

• Farmville, a term alien to many, is one of the most popular games on Facebook. The total Farmville users are over 20% of the users of Facebook and over 1% of the population of the world. Farmville has 83,127,751 monthly active users. That’s more than the number of farmers in the USA. People glue themselves to their seats spending hours on Farmville buying land plots, crops, sowing seeds, harvesting the crops etc. If they do not harvest the crop on time, it will wither and die. So, basically, the users have to keep doing this continual process if they want to keep their farms colourful. Additionally, one can send gifts to their friends, for example, Durian Tree etc. It’s possible to be your friend’s virtual neighbour on Farmville. One can also view others’ farm. People normally seize this opportunity to showcase their colourful farms and receive much adulation for the same. This all bubbles up to one question:

How many of us would spend an hour every day, sowing seeds or planting a sapling in your backyard/garden? He, who does so, deserves the highest meritorious award possible. Why waste time on virtual farms? Make your backyard colourful and when neighbours drop in, showcase your garden. Even if just 1% of the Farmville users engage in planting saplings, just as a hobby, it can make a huge difference; let alone, global warming campaigns. One percent of them, planting one sapling each, can yield a jaw-dropping 831,277 saplings a MONTH! And what more, when you flaunt your garden to your guests and relatives, it will definitely invoke their interest in gardening once they fall prey to the beauty of your garden. It will definitely impact their lives which directly has a positive impact on the environment.

We need more campaigns like the NDTV-Toyota Greenathon. It should also be aired in various channels, radio stations etc. When we have radio stations airing stuff like “Mokka mohan,” they can as well air some go green tips every day; for instance, “Don’t litter on the beach“ or ”Avoid using plastic bags” etc. Media plays a major role in any real-time issue and it should definitely take the responsibility of highlighting the cause and effect of global warming and the alarming need for many Go Green campaigns.

We, as individuals, should take a step forward and do things that can positively impact our environment. I’m sure many will have this idea running in our mind: “We’ll start once someone starts.” Don’t wait for a leader. It will do us no good if we are to just sit and wait for Captain Planet to show up! You take the lead and I’m sure many would follow you. “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” - a quote of Mahatma Gandhi that should definitely reflect the attitudes of each and every one of us.

Nature saves us and we have to save it. Together, let us all make conservation, a habit, and to bolster this statement, I present my literary contribution:

Let us keep our forests green.
Let us keep our oceans blue.
Let us not neglect Mother Earth,
for, She needs me and you!

Go Green!

Introduction

It was not long before that I was contemplating on starting a blog. Well, it's just about time.

His-story: Well, an aspiring composer, now an IT professional, graduated from SVCE, schooled at St. Bede's, and as a passionate keyboard artist, I went on to complete 5th grade in Electronic Keyboard from Trinity College of music.

Take a breather!

 

Phases of life after college

Phase 1: "Heaven"

After completing my final semester examinations, I was on a 12-hour-sleep routine. Everyday, I got up by 1 or 2 in the afternoon, brushed my teeth and then hanged-out at some coffee shop. Side-by-side, was attending my music classes. One must be blessed to have a lifestyle like that. Oh well, those were the days.

Phase 2: "Waiting for the call"

This is the phase that every person, who got recruited through campus placement, goes through. As usual, I was of no exception. When the first batch was called from my college, I was eagerly awaiting my call. Then, when I was finally called, I was like, "Oh goodness, just 15 more days to enjoy my life".  Didn't do anything great during those 15 days. Just the same old routine which I was following for 4 months!  

Phase 3: "Into the Corporate world"

As it is the case with any IT professional aspirant, it was the same case with me as well. Full of hopes, anticipation etc. The induction program was great. First day, I stepped into my office, I was dumb-found. What an amazing environment to work in! The cafeteria was the climax. Amazingly set up. The traveling part took a toll on my energy-levels. Minus that,  everything was just fabulous.

On a role: Ask any IT professional, "How is work?" and expect an answer nothing short of "frustrating." Thought I should do something better to change the way IT works. "How?" answer is pretty simple: Enjoy what you do and become the best at what you do! Our class has spread waves among other associates in our organization. People from different backgrounds, sharing different views came together. It's never easy integrating them. But, now we are just one strong contingent. Wherever we go, our unity speaks for ourselves. Many at times, people envied us. The way we looked at IT industry changed. 

We are just trainees now, but we are sure to carry over few good things which we learnt during our training period, with the order of the day, being, "Unity".