The Royal Bengal Tiger turns 44!

Cricket, Cricket, Cricket, these were the only words that ran in my mind throughout my childhood, till I started became a pessimist.

My interest in Cricket developed during my early childhood at MDI Gurgaon. I was one among the youngest kid in the neighborhood and could occasionally see many others play something called “Bat-Ball” back then. Those days, I found it very hard to write the letter ‘B’. It looked too complicated to me. I feared if I could ever in my life write that letter.

Thinking about all that, I feel how stupid and foolish I was then worrying for things that I shouldn’t be. I was hardly five or six. Probably even younger, but the letter B threatened me like anything. Coming back to the point of bat and ball, my father noticed that I had more interest for cricket than football. He then bought a bat and a ball for me with which I learnt to play cricket inside my home in Gurgaon.

There was a large hall and the exit door was known to be the wicket, I would only bat and I had the option to get out five times whereas my parents had only one. I could never connect the bat with ball, and my parents held me and taught me the art to hit the ball.

I loved it to the core, probably I still love it. The sense of joy I got after I hit the ball was immeasurable. I used to hit it hard and break all possible things inside the house. My mom kept quiet, she never shouted.

As I started going to school, we started talking about what we do at home. One of the major topics of discussion on those days was about the film ‘Mr. India’. I always wished I had a watch like that which could make me disappear from the class whenever I wanted. I slowly got in to the act of watching television and cricket matches which was one of the best things I loved. Unlike many other children who loved to watch their favorite Cartoons such as Flinstones etc, I was only interested in Cricket.

Why was it? Was there some sort of emotional attachment to it? I still remember India’s Tour of Canada and the five matches India played against Pakistan where Saurav Chandi Ganguly played exquisitely well. He even bowled well during the tournament, if I am not wrong, I think his best bowling figure still stands that. He had taken 5 wickets for just 15 or 16 runs. I could see Ganguly hitting century almost every alternate match.

Ganguly’s style of playing cricket inspired me a lot. He would bend completely and stretch his legs as the fast bowler put the ball outside the off stump. Most of those shots were timed perfectly and would surpass all the fielders and slice away for a boundary. No wonder he was called the ‘King of OFF-Side’.

I still remember the day in Lord’s when India had a terrific win against England. I also remember the day when India lost against Australia in the 2003 world cup final. I remember how Ganguly was slowly thrown out of the Indian team, and I also remember how he never gave up on himself.

To this man, who has not only been an aggressive, straight-forward captain, but also a great leader with grit and determination. Someone who has captured my emotion with the word ‘Cricket’.

Today, on his 44^th birthday, my tribute to the best-ever captain of the Indian Cricket Team.

An Interview to remember!

I had interviewed Narayan Krishnan almost a year ago while he was at Coimbatore. I was then an Intern  with a newspaper. Since this interview wasn't published. I am putting it out to public after a very long time. Better late than never na?

The job of being a chef in the country’s biggest Hotel, followed by an offer to go abroad and earn ten times more is a dream come true to many chefs across the country. But to leave the lucrative job and serve the poor is something very difficult to take up. Narayanan Krishnan, the CNN Hero of the year 2010 did the same.

Born to a Brahmin family in Madurai, Narayan after completing his B.Sc in Hotel Management went on to work with Taj Group of Hotels in Bangalore, he was happy there with his work and was given an offer to go to Europe for 4 years where he could earn ten times more. Before he left, his parents had asked him to visit them once.

Narayan after reaching Madurai went out with his parents where he saw a man under a bridge eating his own excreta, seeing this Narayan couldn’t hesitate and bought him food from the nearby restaurant. Narayan could see the gratitude that man had for him. He went back to his hotel in Bangalore where he saw a lot of food being wasted, he felt that people in world don’t get to eat and so much of food is being wasted. Narayan immediately quit his job and went back to Madurai to feed the poor.

With his little saving Narayan without informing his family started feeding the needy until once when his friend Sathish called his parents and told them that Narayan had quit the job. Narayan said after hearing,his father decided to take him to a temple in Kerala and also to a Psychiatrist to treat him. Narayan requested his parents to see what he did once and then if they didn’t like he would go back to Bangalore and work.

“When my parents saw me feeding the poor, an old lady came and touched my mom’s feet and thanked her. My mother seeing that told me, ‘You feed them and I will feed you till am alive’ “

My parents were my first support both emotionally and financially said Narayan.  He added that from 2003 till 2005 he bought food for the poor from a hotel and when the number touched 100 he decided that it was time for him to find an alternative where he started cooking himself with the help of few others. In 2006, Narayan started helping the mentally ill lying on the road, and there were many poor old men lying who had long hair, as many barbers refused to cut their hair telling they were dirty, Narayan went onto learn haircutting from a Malaysian saloon in Madurai. Narayan claims to have given haircuts to over 7000 people from the roads of Madurai.

In 2007 he went onto to cremate the bodies of people whom he fed died, this was strongly opposed by many members of the Brahmin community as he was a Brahmin, Narayan then went onto remove his sacred thread and said that he was no more a Brahmin but a human being.

In the year 2008, Narayan was awarded Rs.5 Lakhs by CNN-IBN by which he could purchase 3.2 acres of land for the trust he owns. Akshaya Trust went on to be recognized by CNN in US where he was selected as the top ten CNN Heroes of the world. Narayan said until he received recognition from CNN many relatives stopped calling him to functions and even stopped their children to interact with them as they feared he could inspire them but once he was awarded by CNN many started appreciating him. Narayan says that if CNN hadn’t recognized him then the institution wouldn’t have grown so much. “The media has helped me a lot” added Narayan.

Narayan says that lazy beggars aren’t taken care by his organization instead they take care of the mentally ill and the old, he says through experience he has got to know whom to take care and whom not. Akshaya Trust now has 425 residents who are fully taken care of. Narayan says that it costs him 20 Lakh rupees a month to run the organization. There has been flow of funds mostly from the common men.

Akshaya operates at less than 1 percent Administration cost because none of the trustees get salaries, no travel expenses incurred, and no telephone bills, and no cars are owned by the trust claims Narayan, he says that the Government hasn’t given any support to the organization and it is running only with the donations received.

Akshaya trust now has 35 staff members working out of which few joined because of their interest initially and the rest thinking they would get three meals a day for free, but as the time went by they understood the importance of it and started liking it said Narayan. “I am also a casual labour at Akshaya” said Narayan.

Narayan expressed grief that none of his chef friends have ever donated for this noble cause, he says that donations to his organization are exempted 50% from income tax. Narayan plans to expand his centre at Madurai which will incur around 3 crore rupees and will accommodate another 1000 people. The centre has full fledged facilities where they have medical facilities for the inmates, the inmates are also made to garden, wash clothes, do yoga and walk which will keep them fit.

Narayan says that he has never distinguished his personal work and service, he feels the only personal time he needs is to have his bath and six hours of sleep. Narayan doesn’t watch movies nor does he go on trips, when he gets bored, he shifts working from, Kitchen to gardening or the various departments in his centre.

Narayan was married few years ago to a family friend whom his family knew for over 30 years “It was an arranged marriage and my wife was very understanding, I have a daughter now who is a year and half old, I hardly get time for my family and they fully understand me.” added Narayan.

On asking him about the source for his expenses Narayan said that his parents get a good amount of pension from the Government which is sufficient for a normal middle class family, Narayan also adds that his wife used to earn well but is on leave after the child was born. I don’t have the ego where a man feels he should be the sole earning member of the family, I feel proud to live on the money that my wife and parents earn for me, told Narayan.

Asking about his hobbies and interests, Narayan said that he plays volleyball, Carron, Cricket and Badminton with the residents of Akshaya and dedicates most of his time to them; he has counseling sessions daily where he counsels around 50 inmates a day.

Narayan says he has never feared falling sick by helping the infectious people.

In a world immersed in negativities let’s look a step ahead and make a difference

In a world immersed in negativities let’s look a step ahead and make a difference

Few weeks ago, I was reading an article in Al-Jazeera about the oil wells in Iraq, which until then I had heard was the primary reason for US’s invasion of Iraq. Saddam was just an excuse. What I found is that majority of the oil wells were owned by PETRONAS, Shell, British Petroleum and I believe that one of them belonged to China, as well. What one could infer is very evident. India or any other developing country in the world had no say in it. This shows the power that nations such asthe US have.

I am convinced that if war arises again in Iran, it will be solely for oil. (This is nothing new). What can India do if such things continue to happen? This can be a great threat to our country as we already import about 80% of crude oil. It just points out the underlying facts that we would become more dependent on the super powers and therefore, slowly end up dancing to their tunes.

When I returned to Coimbatore after two months of internship at CNN-IBN in Bangalore,  I got an opportunity to visit Zaheerabad, a town about 100 Kms to the west of Hyderabad in Medak district.A group of people, who were in growing plants for generating bio-diesel, had set up a farm in the area.

I took up the idea as I was free and this seemed pretty interesting to me as the possibility of oil wars was already poking me. When I went there, I could gauge that India has the potential to generate oil in large scale and slowly move away from near total dependence. Let me explain this further.

Tree Oils India Limited (TOIL) was setup in 2003 by a few men, who were passionate in generating oil from agriculture, which roots from their keen interest in agriculture. SrinivasGhatty, the man behind the setup, had been a bank employee in the past and had always been keen about agriculture and doing something green. With the help of his friends and few NRI investors, he setup TOIL with about 120 acres of land in the town of Zaheerabad, the land which is infertile an is therefore, suitable only for growing non-edible oil seeds.   

I had a very simple question in my mind. What is the connection between bio-diesel and a farm in an arid area? I came to know that we can generate Bio-Diesel from any vegetable oil. Yes, it’s indeed true, but we need to differentiate edible and non-edible oils. As generating Bio-diesel from edible oils will increase the cost of our food, large-scale plantation of non-edible oil bearing plants could be trouble-free. (Please read the debate going on the topic of producing diesel from corn in the US. You may connect with it.)

By looking at this plantation in Zaheerabad, we can learn a lot of things. The seeds that they sow here were mainly of two plants:jatropha(Jatrophacurcas) and pongamia(Milletiapinnata).These seeds germinate in an infertile soil. Therefore, the question whether we are compromising on our food or not does not arise at all. In short, these trees can be grown at places where the soil is infertile and unsuitable for agriculture.

At the farms of TOIL, with 120 acres of land, the company has created an absolutely self-sufficient living support for their resident workers. Out of the entire land, 40 acres was initially used to grow Jatropha, 60 acres for Pongamia, 15 acres for Amla trees and the last five for other oil bearing seeds.

 The 40 acres of Jatropha has been cut down to 15 acres as Jatropha hasn’t been able to withstand the hot summers.  They are also vulnerable to pests, scanty rainfall in the recent past and so on.

The other crop that they have been growing at a large scale is Pongamia. The benefit of growing Pongamia is that it can sustain heat and is less prone to pest attacks. Therefore, a large scale production of Pongamia across the country’s barren lands that are unsuitable for agriculture and are infertile may yield us Bio-Diesel in large quantities that can substitute petro-fuels.

The oil that is extracted from the seeds of the above trees is then taken to a Trans-esterification plant. The process of converting any vegetable oil into Bio-Diesel is called trans-esterification.  This is exactly how Bio-Diesel is generated.

The percentage of oil in the seeds varies drastically; pongamia can have 39% oil content whereas Jatropha can have about 47%. Though jatropa carries more oil, it is very difficult to maintain the growth of that plant. To increase the percentage of oil, get higher yield and reduce the gestation period of the plant, TOIL has made a tie-up with the Hyderabad University where several agricultural scientists are working on genetically modifying seeds by virtue of which they can produce higher yield in a lesser period of time.

The best thing that I found during my stay at their farm was the sincerity of the locals. They have been instrumental in making the agenda of the company successful until today. The entire farm seemed totally independent for its survival as I could see the inmates running their generator in times of power cuts with the edible oils, which is magnificent. The farm also has around 25 milking cows with in-house Bio-gas generating plant that is used for cooking by the inmates. The farm shelters around 7 families of which the husband and wife work in the farm and their children go to the nearby school. The farm is entirely managed by a localite named Kishan Reddy. He has a team of two young boys, who have done their diploma in agricultural engineering; Rabbani, the researcher; few labour supervisors and over a dozen farm labourers.

Their dedication and hard-work in making the farm work efficiently, is highly commendable. This is just the beginning and the future looks quite bright. We need to carry out such things on a larger scale with more inputs from the market and generating income from this, which would eventually help in a large way in making India independent for its own energy requirements.

UN millennium goals

If you look at the millennium development goals of the United Nations, one can infer that the world is looking for sustainable sources of energy. According to their reports, one out of five living in the world doesn’t have access to electricity and also twice the number that accounts to three billion people use charcoal, coal, wood and animal waste materials for their cooking. The United Nations, this year, have taken up the theme of sustainable energy and eradicating energy poverty in the world.

Talking about energy poverty, I remember seeing a generator in the village that was run on these edible oils. They just took the oil and tried it on the generator and it did work. The point here is that these oils are useful in a multitude of purposes.

In their course of planting and growth of these plants, they faced several issues. Few were to do with insects affecting the plant and few were about the climate at that place, which was very hot for Jatropha to grow. When I went there, I was accompanied by Arunwho has been working on Effective Microorganisms at Amrita. He was called there to initiate the use of EM as few plants of Pongamia had some sort of a disease. I have seen the natural way of curing plants really effective at the Ettimadai campus. Many trees, especially Mango showed significant growth when EM was spread on it.

Travel:

This was the best part.. We boarded a Volvo bus from Ettimadai and settled on the first row. The drive in a Volvo needn’t be told. It’s incomparable to any other bus we have in India not even Mercedes. The driver seemed to be in a hurry as usual. As the road progressed, the driver started taking up speed and was cruising at around 115 KMPH. When Arun got up to take something from his bag, the driver pushed the brake hard to avoid an accident; I didn’t even get the time to hold him and I saw him falling on his back hard on the bus’ dashboard. The force with which he fell was tremendous and the 69 year-old man got up on his own and said he was fine. I initially thought he was joking, but later he really was fine. I was astonished to see his level of fitness at this age. I myself am not so fit. The bus then followed ghat sections after Krishnagiri and dropped us in Hyderabad within fifteen hours.

This was my first visit to Hyderabad. I got down at Miapur, as instructed by Mr.Rajeshwar, who had come to pick us up. Zaheerabad was around 120 Kilometres from that spot; the roads weren’t great even though it was National Highway. The road followed to Pune and had only two lanes. On the outskirts of Hyderabad, I could see a large number of industries with waste spilled all over. We reached Zaheerabad town and boarded a Hotel where our host booked us a room.