World Water Day 2012

I just realized what day it is today! It's World Water Day! A day dedicated to one of the most precious things in the world--water!

It's a day to remind us that we are lucky to have that running all the day--there are millions around the world who live their lives by the bucket... literally. They walk miles to fetch that pail of water. Many others stand in long queues every morning and fight for that bucket of water before the tap runs dry for the day. And what do they get after all this toil?

"The pond water I was forced to get water from was very dirty and had a bad smell. Due to my distant walks to collect water, sometimes I was late to work. My daughters and I would also suffer from diarrhea, jaundice, dysentery and skin diseases because of the dirty pond water. We are able to get safe water much more quickly and we don't have waterborne diseases anymore!" So says Banu, a Bangladeshi mother of two daughters. (Read more of this story here.)

So do count it as a blessing that you have enough clean water to keep that tap running while brushing your teeth or to take a nice long shower. You are definitely the lucky one!

Violence Against Women - What Would You Do?

When it comes to violence against women and people's reaction to situations we have seen that in most cases people are silent witnesses.
That's why we need campaigns like Bell Bajao (=Ring the Doorbell) which encourages people to get and do something when they witness domestic violence in their neighbourhood.
But what about the situations when it's not happening behind closed door? What would you do if you see a woman being manhandled in a public place?
Here's a very powerful video that I recently watched.

16 Days of Activism - Day 1

It's 25th November! The 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence campaign has begun and a lot is happening in websphere!

Here are somethings that I have done today:

Signed a petition asking the European Nations to sit up and take note of FGM... here.

Read a wonderful news here about a female condom with razor-sharp teeth! Read more about this amazing weapon against rape.

These should be made available worldwide... and soon... and should be distributed free to women in low-income or no-income pockets.

And of course, following the blog posts by Bell Bajao and Prajnya

BTW, if you are still wondering what this '16 Days' is all about, you can read all about the campaign and its origin here and more about it here.

Would love to hear what you have done today :)

Diwali Greeting Cards And The Days Gone By

Today I suddenly remembered the days when we used to send paper Diwali Greeting Cards to everyone. It suddenly seems like those were distant ages! And it wasn't more than, maybe, ten years ago!

It was a whole process, sending those cards to send all your near & dear (and far & not-so-dear) ones "Season's Greetings" and "Wishes For a Happy And Prosperous Diwali", or simply "Shubh Deepavali"!

It began with a trip to the book shop, which was a simple process. But it would suddenly grow complicated when we would be standing in front of that aisle of table showcasing all those Diwali cards from - BNHS, WWF (NOPE, NOT the wrestling thing) Help Age, CRY any many other such organization. I usually ended up buying 2-3 of each!

Then came the most painful part of it all. Writing messages on all the cards, writing addresses on the envelops, making sure that each card goes in the write envelop and then sticking the stamps on them all. Remember, cards were sent to many people - parents and brother topped the chart of course, then all the aunts, uncles, cousins, school friends, college friends, pen friends and then some important ex-colleagues. By the time this whole process was over, the enthusiasm would have waned considerably.

We thanked the internet when it came and we could send e-cards... at least to some people from that huge list. Then life caught us over, the list began thinning. Telephone calls became cheap, mobile phones came and those paper greeting cards disappeared from our lives.


And today, suddenly, they appeared in my memories... out of nowhere. And then curiosity took over, so I did some googling and found the I can buy my paper Diwali greeting cards online, at least I found two of my favourite organisations selling them online - BNHS and CRY. Sadly I couldn't fine WWF India's online store. It would be great if some one could locate it for me. Also, if you know of any organisations that sell Diwali greeting cards online, please add the link.

Meanwhile, here are some great Diwali reads that you can check out.

Arab-Israel Peace - There is Hope

Do a Google search for Jayyous and you will find all about this Palestinian village. It's one of those villages which is now divided by a wall built by the Israeli government.

While Israel calls this a 'security wall', the International Court of Justice has declared it illegal years ago. 

Google will also tell you how the people of Jayyous are suffering, how the land is suffering. 

According to the website of Jayyous Charity Society 83k olive trees were chopped down apart from thousands of others to make way for this gigantic wall.  



The farmers of this Palestinian village have limited resources now. Very few people can visit the village, that too, during certain hour and on permit. 


Amidst all this darkness, however, there is a glimmer of hope... a glimmer of peace. There are many dedicated groups of Israelis who are working towards. They are gladly extending helping hands to their Palestinian counterparts.

Irit, one of the lovely ladies I met at my virtual office of WFAC, is one such Israeli. She has been involved in all things peace. And she has also been to Jayyous, to help the olive farmers of this village during harvest season. And she was not alone; there were 80 of them, who visited the village. 

Irit says, the farmer whom she helped, told her,"you are the handkerchief for our tears."No compliment can be more fulfilling.

And to read more about  Arab-Israel peace check out this link.