My World Environment Day, 2011

A few days late, but here's an overview of what I did last Sunday on World Environment Day here in India. ONergy kicked off a project in partnership with a local Rotary chapter (RC Calcutta Mid-City, District 3291) on an off-grid island in the Sunderbans, which is in East  India. 


The Sundarbans wetlands and mangrove forest is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Evidenced by a devastating cyclone in 2008, it is extremely sensitive to changing weather patterns. Electrification and water purification are critical issues. A majority of the villages are without grid access, using kerosene and diesel generators for lighting, electrification and pumping water for de-salination and agricultural irrigation.  Relying on fossil fuels for these purposes is detrimental to the surrounding environment, unhealthy, and incredibly costly.  

The event was organized and held at the site of a local NGO who works with and runs programs with villagers to promote income generation through skill building and sustainable development. 

A small training and awareness session on the benefits of solar and how to use the lamps was given to a group of school children.

"Who know's how solar works?"

Ekta from ONergy mesmorizing the group with how their
mobile phones can be charged directly from the panel!

Solar LED study lamps were provided to selected students from Classes 5 & 6 who were regular attenders at school and high achievers. 

The first two students chosen, all dressed up, so cute.

A group of students them performed a skit on stage, which was adorable. They were dressed up as elders- wearing grey powder in their hair, traditional dress, and fake beards/moustaches. Though I couldn't understand what they were saying, what I gathered was that it was a generational progress, with the elderly teaching the youth the importance of taking care of the surrounding environment. 

Love the girl in the middle with the straw beard. Some of the kids
twirled their mustaches at the ends - great style.

Students on stage performing a group skit on the importance
of managing the environment.

As always, the teacher was at the side of the stage feeding lines
to the kids who forgot or got temporarily distracted.

This purpose of this pilot was to get the program started in the community, and also for Rotary to gain awareness for the project as they look to secure funding to expand it. The plan is to set up a  "charging station" at the local school and provide subsidized lamps to 50-100 school children. They could then bring their lamps to the school to get charged during the day and be brought home to study with at night, thereby preventing them from having to study beside dim, unhealthy, and unsafe kerosene lamps.


Very entertaining Sunday, although extremely hot with lots of travel involved (trains, buses, ferries), and I suspect the heat played a part in taking me down on Tuesday. All better now though!

TED Tuesday - The neurons that shaped civilization

Very interesting TED by neurologist V.S Ramachandran The neurons that shaped civilization. He's a great speaker, describing complicated theories of the brain in concrete and simple ways, and has a few other talks that are definitely worth checking out.

In this video he talks about his investigations into phantom limb pain, synesthesia and other brain disorders allow him to explore (and begin to answer) the most basic philosophical questions about the nature of self and human consciousness.

"Ramachandran is a latter-day Marco Polo, journeying the silk road of science to strange and exotic Cathays of the mind. He returns laden with phenomenological treasures...which, in his subtle and expert telling, yield more satisfying riches of scientific understanding."Richard Dawkins

Into Thin Air: A mini Himalayan Adventure

5:30am wakeups to witness the sunrise, an everlasting hope the clouds would clear and give a glimpse of the mighty Kangchenjunga massif, staring in awe when they did, chai breaks in remote settlements, strings of colourful prayer flags, being out of breath, gulping fresh thin air, sounds of silence, scent of evergreens, thin clouds flowing right past my face… 

I recently got the chance to take some time off work to head to northern India for a week of trekking in the Himalayan Mountains. An overnight train followed by a 3 hour jeep ride up countless switchbacks brought us to Darjeeling, ‘Queen of the Hills’. The fresh, cold air of the mountains was a glorious relief from the heavy heat of Kolkata summer (40C these days with monsoon season fast approaching).

rooftop restaurant

Darjeeling is a fairly developed and bustling town near the Nepali border, sitting at 2100m with spectacular views of the surrounding mountain ranges. Largely developed by the Brits in the 1800’s as a hill station and tea distribution centre, it’s now widely famous for the quality of the tea which grows on its steep hills (and the Sherpa community). This region is comprised of a very diverse culture with a unique way of living (primarily agriculture). The majority of the current occupants are Nepali, along with many other communities such as Bengalis, Bhutias, and Tibetans, with Buddhists and Hindus forming the religious majority.

The 5 day, 55km trek to Sandakphu at 3600m took us along the Singalilla ridge which followed the Indian/Nepali border. A few of the days were spent in Nepal, which was monumental personally as it was country #30 visited for me, one of my major goals. Also, it was a step up from 2600m which previously was the highest altitude I had reached in Austria on my European cycle tour last summer. Getting up in the clouds was unreal – I want more! Looking forward to heading back up to this region in a few months time on my way home to Canada. 

Got clear skies our first morning - Kangchenjunga Range 
(Everest to the left of this range) 

Sherpa lodge in Sandakphu

4:30am, 3600m, waiting

here comes the sun...

glorious.

I put a bunch more photos up on my Picasa Photostream as well, the link can be found on the right side of this page.

Maxims for Mavericks

Great new ebook ‘Maxims for Mavericks’ is a quest against mindless conformity which provides motivation to create and enjoy an uncommon life, a life on your terms.

Once in a while it really hits people that they don't have to experience the world in the way they have been told to.
– Alan Keightley, Author

What is a Maxim?

According to the eighteenth-century Russian philosopher, Immanuel Kant, a maxim is a self-created rule or belief that composes our internal playbook; it’s part of a code that we consult when making the very decisions that shape our life. Our maxims lie behind every action and, therefore, contribute to every outcome we experience.

 “May you live your life as if the maxim of your actions was to become universal law”
-Immanuel Kant (From Groundwork to a Metaphysics of Morals.’ 1785

If you found this ebook inspiring and want more where that came from:

• Charlie Hoehn’s “Recession-proof grad” – has a free ebook that advises actions recent grads should take to get noticed and start doing the work they want to do, rather than settling and taking what they can get as an entry-level job. (hint: it’s the exact opposite of what you’re probably doing now). His recent TEDx talk
• Chris Guillebeau and The Art of Non-Conformity – his work covers broad strokes of living an unconventional life, building your own something, world domination, and travel. Chris also spoke at the same TEDx conference
• Ramit Sethi's I Will Teach You to be Rich – excellent and entertaining tips for young people on personal finance, earning more money, great interviewing and negotiation tactics (including scripts), and the psychology of effective behaviour change.

Great work like this is largely what has motivated me to follow through with various travel adventures and plan how to steer my own life, both personally and professionally.

Never settle.