What's wrong with the world? I am.

For four months now, no wet waste has left our house. It's all been going into the 'Mota Lota'. A handy little product for home-composting.

I've had people tell me I'm crazy and wasting my time for doing it but I tell you, it's greatly satisfying. Sure, it takes work and some getting used to but what good thing on the planet doesn't?

I admit, there are days that I wish I didn't have to do it. But there are also days that I wish I didn't have to brush my teeth or shower or eat or wake up... On those days, it takes some self-coaxing and extra willpower but that's life; everyday we are fighting against some 'natural' instinct. Everyday we are making choices.

When I drive into town for some errand or a meeting or to meet a friend, seeing garbage lying at the corner of every street has now become normal. Bangalore has gone from 'Garden City' to 'Garbage City'. No joke. The people are blaming the BBMP. The BBMP is blaming the people. And the garbage is going nowhere. Literally. And it won't until we stop looking at what the other person is doing and admit that the responsibility and 'fault' lies squarely on our own shoulders.

To quote G.K. Chesterton:

"Dear Sir:

Regarding your article 'What's Wrong with the World?'

I am.

Yours truly,

G.K. Chesterton"

Explorations: Disconnected!

I'm in a little village called K.C. Patty where Niru's parents run a primary health centre. It's great. No phone network. Limited water and electricity supply. Disconnected from the madness of the world. It's great. And I'm grateful and being reminded of the importance of being still.

Above are the results of some wandering at Mahabs on our last day, getting to know Niru's D-SLR. What do you think? Should I get one of these babies?

Oh Sunny Day!

Dare I blog about it? Lest I jinx the sky into retreating into it's sad, grey self again? Yeah, it's too good not to write about!

The past couple of weeks have been miserable in terms of weather and I was beginning to hate rain. Me, the girl who would stare longingly up at the sky for rain, praying that God would have mercy and make those grey clouds burst open on us... But in Ooty, rain just makes me miserable. I've come to the conclusion that cold is great only when it's not wet. And rain is great only when it's hot.

And so the past weekend I was delighted to be going down to the jungle because it was supposed to be warmer there but guess what? It wasn't really. It was still pretty gloomy and cold. But I wasn't complaining. We had the most awesome time. It was just us - the Std. 9 girls, the Smiths (their dormparents) and me in this huge big, gorgeous house with a "porch" all around and a swimming pool with a view of the mountains in the background. Idyllic.

On the way up, as I was looking out the window, I noticed how many waterfalls in the hills were bursting with life thanks to all this rain we were having and I had to be grateful for it. As much as I've been hating on the rain lately, I have to admit that it does have an awesome affect. Everything was so green and... alive!

But then, we woke up this morning and found this...

Blue blue skies!

So we went and sat out on the grass and Anu took lots of photos... 

And we made some new friends!
Phil and Caroline (on the right) are also ex students and currents staff kids...

Anu J (another ex-student) and Anu B!

:)

 P.s. It's the last day of November! Which means it's December tomorrow! Ooh, I love December!

The Trip: Lal Tibba...

You could say that I sort of grew up in the hills. I lived in Ooty for five years and maybe it grew on me or maybe I just naturally have a thing for the hills but basically I love the hills and I love hiking up the hills and finding a spot where you look around and see the hills all around you... 

In Mussoorie, there are a couple of places that tourists generally go to and while we wanted to see as much as possible, transport around Mussoorie is really expensive so it came down to picking between Lal Tibba, which is supposedly the highest peak in Mussoorie, and Kempty Falls... I was all for Lal Tibba because you're apparently supposed to be able to see the Himalayas from Lal Tibba and I am super fascinated by the Himalayas and can't wait for the day that I can go trekking there (it's gonna happen!) Anyway, I don't think we actually saw the Himalayas from Lal Tibba but they were there, in that general direction and maybe it is possible to see if the visibility is better (see what I mean, even places like Mussoorie don't have clean air anymore...) but nevertheless, it was a fantastic experience... Vini, Jo, Sharan and I hiked up the hill a little bit and would have loved to have gone on but our taxi would only wait for half an hour but it was still a lot of fun!