Indian Climate Solutions

A fantastic idea and a great story of travel through 2,100 miles from Chennai to Delhi to film inspiring, home-grown energy innovations.

Check out Indian Climate Solutions. Their premise -

In India, a nation of creativity, diversity and dynamism, inspirational climate solutions already exist in pockets, demonstrating significant co-benefits for the economic, social and environmental welfare of the country. They are however poorly documented, analysed and communicated in general. To avoid a replication of efforts (reinventing the wheel), and to convince governments, businesses and communities to take action, these success stories need to be shared widely. India is a nation open to new ideas, with a strong intelligence, deep spirituality and profound respect for the natural world. As such, we, the Indian youth, believe that India can take a leadership role on climate change, for its own welfare and security as well as for that of the world as a whole.a fantastic idea and a great story!

Remember, when the buying stops, the killing can too!

A lot of things in life are counter intuitive. Many Jain families buy and release birds on anniversaries, bdays, etc. This act makes it economically viable for people to capture birds so that they can release them and capture them again and on and on. The unsaid truth in this trade is that for every wild caught bird that reaches the pet shop, nine will have died in the process. Thus in order to get "punya" for releasing one wild bird we get "paap" for killing 9 wild birds!

We must question why the bird was in the cage in the first place! Only when we stop "releasing" captured birds, will they stop being captured! In India, it isnt easy bringing people involved in illegal wildlife trade to book and in many cases is very dangerous for the people (most of whom are volunteers) who bring such things to light. But the least we can do is help spread the word and stop this senseless cruel practice.

Just Billu

The best Indian blogs are deeply satirical and I understand why. Humor is the best coping mechanism when there are so many nonsensical things happening around you. I already find myself becoming more sarcastic and cynical after spending just two weeks in Bombay.

The reason for my latest bout of cynicism...the controversy surrounding the title for SRK's latest movie - Billu. The film was initially called Billu Barber. But then the Salon and Beauty Parlor's Association complained that the term "barber" is derogatory and producers should instead use the terms "hairdresser" or "stylist". SRK relented to avoid further controversy and agreed to remove "barber" from all hoardings.

This is not the only ongoing name controversy. You also have objections around the use of "dog" in "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Shiv" in "Shiv Vada Pav" (a BMC scheme that provides carts to hawkers is under attack because Shivaji's name is attached to vada-pav).

Just think about all the time and money being spend on getting the wording right. How can you not find this funny (and tragic)!

Books on India

Today at Crossword (my favorite Bombay bookstore) I picked up India After Gandhi by Ramachandra Guha. I realize that if I were actually living in Bombay I probably would never have read this book. We NRIs choose our own attachments to India, and mine is books. A majority of the books I read, whether fiction, non-fiction, contemporary or historical, tend to be related to India in some way.

I thought I would share some recent favorites -

Sea of Poppies - Amitav Ghosh

The White Tiger - Aravind Adiga

In Spite of the Gods - Edward Luce

The Glass Palace - Amitav Ghosh (yes, again)

Feel free to send me recommendations. Currently, I am especially interested in books on India written by Indians.

6 months

What a difference six months makes. I am struck by the current mood in Bombay and how different it is compared to just six months ago. July seems like such a long time ago. In many ways, it was a long time ago - before Lehman, AIG, 26/11, and Satyam. Compared to optimism six months back, circumspection is the cry today. All talk revolves around survival and finding a way to get through the next year or two (depending on how pessimistic you are).

Luckily, July was also before Obama. Everyone seems to be riding their hopes on him. While I share their enthusiasm, I am skeptical - I don't think there are any quick fixes, the problems just seem too big.

100-word Election Speeches

Continuing with the Advani and Modi theme, here is a proposed 100-word speech for Advani written by Ramesh Srivats on his Let's put Da blog -

Advani – Namaste. I urge you to vote for the BJP so that we can create history ..er..literally. We will go back to the glory of the Vedas. During the polls, we propose to use the Rig-Veda. And after the polls, we promise to distribute idli-veda. All parliamentary proceedings will start with prayer. In fact, we will rename the parliament Shlok Sabha. Give us a chance. All of us are not communal. Our own party is split into extremists and Modirates. So, vote for us. Please lotus rule this time and I promise you Ram Rajya.

If you enjoy word-play, check out his 3-part speech series which includes Sonia Gandhi, Laloo, Raj and others. Very funny!

A Vibrant Gujarat

Advani in his latest post talks about a how Gujarat has become vibrant

"... in the current year of economic slowdown, the two-day Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors’ Summit 2009, which concluded in Ahmedabad on January 13, attracted promised investments of over Rs. 12 lakh crore."

What accounts for Gujarat's and consequently Modi's success?

"The answer is simple: he (Modi) exemplifies the BJP’s commitment to Good Governance, Development and Security.

Gujarat has not only registered the fastest economic growth in the country, but also registered impressive successes in social development. The problem of drinking water, severe and perennial in many parts of the state, has been largely solved. The widely applauded Jyotirgram scheme has succeeded in providing 24×7 electricity supply to all the villages and hamlets in the state. School dropout rate, including in tribal areas, has drastically come down. Gujarat is a leader in slum improvement and urban renewal."

Advani seems to be positioning Modi to be BJP's next leader. Makes me quite uncomfortable.

One mistake, please!

Say, I bet you a $ - get Cheney to admit to one mistake made in the last eight years. You would think that's an easy way to make buck, right? After all, you have Kyoto (long forgotten by now), Afghanistan, Iraq, Abu Ghraib, Patriot Act, Katrina, Guantanamo, Fannie & Freddie, MBS', and Wall Street in your arsenal. (I know I could go on...)

Well, wrong. Watch his exit interview with Jim Lehrer. It is easy to see why the last eight years turned out the way they did. He only admits to one miscalculation -

"Well, make mistakes – I can think of places where I underestimated things. For example, talking about Iraq, the extent of which the Iraqi population had been beaten down by Saddam Hussein was greater than I anticipated."

The reason it was difficult setting up an Iraqi government was that Saddam had killed all opposition leaving a lasting effect on Iraqi society..

And he believes it! He also believes that history will look upon him and this administration favorably despite having the lowest approval (apart from Dan Quayle). We know that he doesn't believe in polls in any case - remember the infamous So?

How to build a supply chain solution for a rural network?

A friend of mine recently started an interesting assignment. For the next six months, he will be working with Drishtee, an organization based in Delhi that links manufacturers with kirana stores in small to medium size villages. My friend is responsible for finding a scalable supply chain solution for this network.

"Drishtee plans to scale up to become sustainable but can't because it's existing supply chain process is paper based, data entry intensive and error prone (the error rate is whats killing them). I am basically trying to find a solution to this problem. Can't really use the existing Supply Chain Management (SCM) solutions, because there is generally no internet access, no computers etc. - very poor infrastructure in general. So something that is cell phone based, with maybe some portable printers. And it has to be easy to use - the guys in the field aren't "tech savvy"."

All this in 6 months - good luck! He is blogging about his experience, in case you are interested.

Conversion of a blue-blooded consumer after watching Story of Stuff...

What is the Story of Stuff?
From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.
View the story on www.storyofstuff.com

Indian Blogs

As promised, a few Indian blogs I follow -

India Uncut - mostly political with witty and insightful analysis.

Desipundit - one-stop-show, pulls entries from a variety of Indian blogs.

ThinkChangeIndia - latest on social entrepreneurship in India.

India Development - all about my work - microfinance, research, evaluations.


And if these don't interest you, you can always follow Mr. Advani's blog

2008 Movies

For all you movie buffs - Best of 2008.

I haven't seen all, but can definitely vouch for Milk. Sean Penn was simply brilliant. A must-see.

The Story of India on PBS

Why I love PBS!

In this landmark six-part series for PBS and the BBC, Michael Wood embarks on a dazzling and exciting journey through today's India, "seeking in the present for clues to her past, and in the past for clues to her future.

Eating right

Recently I have had a number of discussions on what one should and shouldn't eat. The discussions revolved around the "nutrient-by-nutrient" approach - an approach imbibed by the "nutritionism" and food industry where they target one nutrient at a time. There is a problem with this approach - given the complex nature of food (at least traditional food), it is almost impossible to isolate the impact of any one nutrient.

Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food" elaborates on the fallacy of this approach. His basic theory is - Eat Food. Mostly Plants. Not Too Much.

Some takeaways (posted on my fridge).

Eat Food
- don't eat anything that your grandmother wouldn't buy
- avoid food with ingredients a) > 5, b) unpronounceable, c) unfamiliar, d) high fructose content
- avoid products that make health claims
- shop in the peripheries of supermarkets, stay out of the middle aisles
- get out of the supermarkets (hit farmer's markets when possible)

Mostly Plants
- eat mostly plants, especially leaves
- you are what you eat eats too
- buy a freezer
- eat wild foods when you can
- be kind of person who takes supplements (but don't take them)
- eat traditional/ethnic foods
- don't get fuel from same place your car does

Not Too Much
- eat meals
- do all eating at dinner table
- try not to eat alone
- consult your gut
- eat slowly

Additions by us
- eat everything, in moderation
- have a glass of red wine with dinner (guess who added this one)
- don't look for magic bullet ingredients
- avoid "low-fat" or "non-fat" products
- avoid "Diet" drinks. Sugar is better than chemicals

Others you would like to add?

"Protecting" the border

Driving 400 miles through Texas, I couldn't help thinking about the futility (and irony) of border security. It seems almost impossible to "protect" the 2,000 mile US-Mexico border through border patrol checkpoints and fences. These help, but only to a point.

A larger deterrent is the state of the economy. From January to September 2008, 724,000 people were caught trying to cross into the US from Mexico - the lowest annual total since the 1970s. You can bet that this number is going to drop in 2009 - after all, why risk your life if you are going to be unemployed.