Sunday 7 July 2013

My “eco-friendly” Friend Ganesha



Yes it’s just the first week of July and a couple more months for one of our vastly celebrated festivals and personally my favorite festival, but I think it’s the right time for me to make this write-up and spread a word about eco-friendly Ganapati idols.

 
Significance in short:


Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated by large communities to mark the birth or rather his rebirth to lord Shiva and Parvati. Ganesha is the god of prosperity and good fortune. It’s a festival which is celebrated for ten days by Hindus not just all over India but all over the world. A festival which is being privately celebrated since the Shivaji era and became a public festival in 1893, courtesy Lokmanya Tilak! Before the start of any journey we loudly chant “Ganpati Bappaaa!” and we definitely get back a louder “Moryaaa!”


Now and then:


Ten days of beautiful Ganapti idols’ sights, from a couple of feet small to three-storey building sized idols, decorations exorbitantly expensive but a treat to the eye and the long and noisy visarjan nights are just unforgettable. But what has been forgotten is the fact that traditionally Ganapati wasn’t celebrated the way it today is. The idols would be sculpted and carved out of earthen or natural clay and decorated using little things from home, flowers and after the festival the idols would be returned back to earth by immersing in natural water bodies.

There is something else that we haven’t forgotten and we aren’t completely aware of it but chose to ignore it- Usage of POP idols and other toxic chemicals for decorating these idols. The growing size of idols induced crafters to use POP because it is easier to make idols out of it and make them colorful rather than clay.

Scientific explanation:
 
The visarjan of such POP Ganesh idols converts the POP to gypsum, which breaks down very slowly in water, increases its hardness and degrades the life carrying capacity of water bodies. It forms a waterproof layer at the bottom of the water body. The rampant use of harmful paints, usage of metals like cadmium, lead is wreaking havoc in the environment and contaminating seas, lakes and ponds. 



This is what happens to every single POP made Ganapati idol every single year! When will we learn?

Furthermore, it can impact you too via the consumption of fresh water from lakes, seafood and fish. The impacts can be narrowed down to problems related to heart, kidneys, liver, circulatory and central nervous system. 

Avoid the above explanation:

In simple words, tackling the scientific gibberish – visarjan of clay idols is returning what is earth’s whereas visarjan of POP idols is pressurizing the earth to intake what is man-made and harmful for its well being.

We resort to such a harmful act at the cost of the beauty He has created.

Solutions in action:

Other than the use of traditional clay idols, other suggested solutions which are in action:
A brass idol which can be re-used
Immersion of a clay idol in a bucket.
  • Use of a permanent Ganapti icon made of stone and brass, used every year and a symbolic immersion only.
  • Recycling of plaster idols to repaint them and use them again the following year. 
  • Ban on the immersion of plaster idols into lakes, rivers and the sea. 
  • Creative use of other biodegradable materials such as papier-mâché to create Ganesh idols. 
     
 
Our Lord Ganesha is friendly-by-nature; why not make his idols nature-friendly too?






Click on the following link for List of stores of ecosensitive Ganesh idols from Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad

If you stay in Kandivali, Borivali or Dahisar, here's the Rotararct Club of Dahisar Coast's initiative for you!




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Monday 1 July 2013

The latest Mario in town


 
Who is he?
 
He wears the Number 10 jersey, is one of the gifted footballers who are short in stature, sprints very quickly with or without the ball at his feet, bamboozles defenders and juggles the ball past them with utmost ease, assists not just the goals but the team’s wins entirely, possesses great skill when it comes to converting freekicks, can deceive keepers with those delicate chip shots or give them no chance whatsoever with a powerful bullet, he turned a star for his club but yet to achieve any notable success with the national team – sounds like Lionel Messi, doesn’t he? Well, that’s what he was coined by pundits- German Messi!

Franz Beckenbauer said that Mario Götze "has the same assets as Lionel Messi in terms of his technique and understanding of the game.

Career Highlights:

With club:

Borussia Dortmund

A product of their youth academy, Götze took the golden opportunity given to him by Coach Jurgen Klopp with both hands and cemented his place in the first team in the latter half of 2009-10 Season. He immediately became a prime figure in the midfield and adopted the playmaking role beautifully. Assisting 15 times and scoring 6 goals in the 2010-11 Season, Gotze guided Dortmund to the title. Götze held the Golden boy award in 2011 which was once held by Messi, Aguero, Fabregas and Rooney 
Although he played only half the 2011-12 Season, still he managed to win another title with Dortmund.

With the signing of Marco Reus from Borussia Monchengladbach, him and Götze formed an impeccable partnership and emerged as one of the best attacking duos in Europe in 2012-13. They had19 league goals (Reus 11, Götze 8) and 15 assists (9 and 6 respectively) combined, which meant they were directly involved in over half their side’s 62 league goals last season.

Franz Beckenbauer spoke about Reus and Mario Götze saying, "...as a classic duo there is nobody better than the prolific Reus and Götze."

Götze was a crucial 1st team member for Dortmund which reached the UEFA Finals after 16 years! Had he played in the all-German finale against the Bavarians, his impact would’ve altered the course of the game in Dortmund’s favour. It’s debatable though.

Götze secured a transfer to Dortmund rivals Bayern Munich when they triggered the €37 Million clause in his contract. He is the latest Mario at Allianz Arena!

With national team:
Götze made his international debut in 2010 at 18 years of age. Reus has secured a fairly regular starting berth, Götze was eluded of it. Although he has deserved a place in the playing XI, nobody can be blamed for his irregular game time. Loew has a huge talented battalion at his disposal with the likes of Ozil, Muller, Kroos, Reus etc. However, just 21 years of age- Götze is here to stay, improve further and probably carve his name in history for sure!

5 things you ought to know about this little magician:

  • Götze's first goal for Germany came against Brazil at the age of 19 years and 68 days and he became the joint youngest goalscorer for the German national team in the post-war era along with Klaus Sturmer in 1954.
  •  The German transfer is set to make Götze the most expensive German player of all time. 
  • He’s called “Super Mario”, but unlike ladies man Balotelli he still lives with his parents in a modest house close to Dortmund. 
  • Recently, he was listed 34th in "The 100 Best Footballers in the World" byThe Guardian.
  • Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness has revealed that Pep Guardiola wanted to sign Neymar but Bayern suggested the purchase of Mario Götze from Borussia Dortmund instead.
This article that I've written has been published on the following site! Do read, it may vary a little due to the website's editing. Please click on the following link.


Sportskeeda: Playerof the season nominees: mario-gotze


Bread and Butter Football: the latest mario in town

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