Life..or something like it !

Its 7 : 30 a.m. and I stand here in the bus stop waiting for the office bus to arrive. I stand here in the same manner as I did a few years back waiting for my college bus. Little did I know then that things would change so much in 2 years; the sky under which I am standing seems to be looking at me and smiling .. It is perhaps the only thing that has acted as a witness .. watching the transformation of a loud and bubbly person into a quiet professional. I wouldn't blame the professionalism for the change though. It is destiny, or may be you could call it life.

Yes Life, esoteric in the true sense, for one does not understand why you meet hundreds of people everyday, work with so many, and still remain lonely. I am now in one of the corner seats in the bus, looking out of the window watching people trying to catch up with "life" .. It's an hour's journey and the only company that I generally have is the chatter of the RJ. I seldom notice the person sitting next to me, for its going to be yet another stranger or may be you could say another acquaintance. It is annoying at times when the radio is switched off, not because I am cut off from the melody but because I would now be thrust with thoughts of the solitary journey ahead.

I can't help thinking about the short bus journeys to college ... well it's a paradox to call a distance of 30 KMs "short", but that is how it always seemed. A typical college day always begins in the bus with all the familiar faces; you look forward for all your friends to get in from the various stops, the reasonless giggles, the loud laughter that were stifled to avert the eyes of the lecturers and professors who would watch on us as if we were their prospective prey for the day ... well as I said it was a different life then. The pleasant memories of college are in itself good enough to save me from the misery of the bus journey.

I notice that it is time for me to get down and flash my smile of acknowledgement to all the known strangers that I see as I approach my cubicle. A few of my colleagues greet me with their morning wishes and as always, we exchange our pleasantries. Discussions jump to the weekend plans and I wonder what I'd do over the weekend.It would be just another day staring at the mobile, wishing it would ring and bring back some wonderful moments that are now missing in life or maybe the safer option would be to come to office, for it's my new founded asylum these days. A few years back, weekends or weekdays didn't matter to me, I was always busy. I always stood doubting the authenticity of the wall clock that seemed to be in running too fast to perceive its movement. Alas, now it seems as though my clock is suffering from some kind of paralytic attack.
There is a time in life, where one needs to go ahead, leaving behind your friends and carrying along only memories. You do make new friends, but then you never get the old close ones ... you do meet people who'd be so good to you that you could tell them anything and everything, but you do not find a person to whom you needn't say things ... friends who just know you. Occasional calls from such friends, have been the only thing that I seem to look forward to .....However,I cant help but notice the uneasy pause that lingers around the conversation ..A pause not because of the relationship, but because it is too short a duration to say everything, and of course you cannot completely rule out the paucity of words!As I sip coffee from the ubiquitous coffee mug, watching the drops of rain, trickling down the tinted glass panes, veiling the scenic beauty outside, I tell myself, may be there will be a day when things will change, when life will offer a rewind, a recap of all the events and I just have to wait.Capricious are the ways of life, for I know there would be many who'd be able to empathize with me, ironically, even the dear ones that I miss this moment, waiting perhaps...!!And I keep on waiting...

If you think that it is my composition, then it's not !
But if you think it is good than you can thank me !

American obsession with all things paper

One thing that I have particularly disliked after my short and eventful existence in this country is the obsession of this country's policy makers to use paper tissues.

Be it kitchen, toilet at our homes or even the tea vending machines at office; all are covered with paper. On more googling on this disturbing trend, I could uncover a mind numbing fact :

each person in the United States uses 749 pounds of paper every year (adding up to a whopping 187 billion pounds per year for the entire population, by far the largest per capita consumption rate of paper for any country in the world)

The fact is, world consumption of paper has grown four hundred percent in the last 40 years. Now nearly 4 billion trees or 35% of the total trees cut around the world are used in paper industries on every continent. Besides what we see around us, paper comes in many forms from tissue paper to cardboard packaging to stereo speakers to electrical plugs to home insulation to the sole inserts in your tennis shoes. In short, paper is everywhere. The consequence is that, more paper is required and this results in more trees being cut.

Isn't it our duty to do save trees ? I wish more movements like "Chipko Aandolan/ Vanmahotsava" are held worldwide so that mass awarenes is created on this critical issue.

Those interested should check out the following link :-

http://www.ecology.com/feature-stories/paper-chase/index.html

It talks of the importance of paper, paper industry and the alternative solutions which can be thought of to save trees from being shed blindly.

Some interesting facts on paper and trees

The first paper merchant in America was Benjamin Franklin, who helped to start 18 paper mills in Virginia and surrounding areas.
Wood pulp is found in rayon material, laundry detergent, camera film, tires, and transmission belts.
The trees used to make paper in the United States come mostly from softwood forests-mostly pine-in the South and West.
In 1883 Philadelphia resident Charles Stillwell invented a machine to make brown paper bags so folks would have something to carry their groceries home in. Today more than 20 million paper bags are used annually in supermarkets throughout the country.
45% of all paper used in the United States is recycled. Hemp was grown commercially in the United States until the 1950s.
The single oldest living thing on Earth is a tree, a 4,700 year-old bristlecone pine tree in Nevada. It was growing when the Egyptians built the pyramids.
There are 747 million acres of forest land in the United States.
In 1998, over 1.6 billion tree seedlings were planted in the United States.