Ecology

Solid Waste Management

I have covered many topics in The Hindu and my pet area of writing has boiled down to Solid Waste Management. If there is any single solution to the problems of health and hygiene that the country faces, it is so simple - source segregation of wastes by the individual and efficient SWM by the Government. I practice it at home myself and there can be nothing simpler and convenient than this - drop all the day's bio-degradable wastes in a container, paper, plastics and glass separately. These are all individual wastes that can be thoroughly recycled. The only wastes that will finally go to the dumping ground are the non-recyclable hazardous wastes.

But it is also my realisation that the simplest are the most difficult to practice. The reason I discovered, the human mind likes to put in a lot of effort to achieve something. It can settle down for simple and cost-free solutions. The Indian mind finds it the most difficult habit to surrender to the rule of law. And the politicians want their votes in tact. So they do not want to step forward to take any creative measures to solve problems such as garbage management as imposition of rational ideas might make them lose the favour of the masses. And so the vicious circle continues.

It took a tsunami and destruction of hundreds of human lives to know the important of protecting the coastline against the vagaries of nature. I do not think the country should wait for a similar catastrophe, till it addresses the most important issue of composting its bio-degradable wastes and recycling the non-biodegradable ones.

One of my articles on lack of solid waste management that appeared in The Hindu.

Photo: The mangroves of Pichavaram have served as a natural protective cover in breaking the waves of the tsunami and weakening its force.

Yoga and Humanity

Yoga in the Media

Yoga has fascinated me for many years now and has been the subject of many articles in The Indian Express and The Hindu. My personal touch with Yoga, began when I wrote about how a programme by the Isha Yoga Centre transformed the lives of prisoners in the Coimbatore Jail.

Later I met around 70 prisoners in the Coimbatore and Madurai Jails, with permission from the State Governments to see for myself, the transformation that Yoga can cause.

I began to personally practise Yoga, by the turn of this millennium and I have continued to this day. I can't think of a life without Yoga anymore.

With several articles in The Hindu about several aspects of Yoga including Pranayama, Asana, Meditation, for stress relief, concentration, for students, for efficient administration, road safety - I discovered that there is not a field of life that is not touched by Yoga. I personally believe that practice of Yoga at the individual and the collective level is one stop solution for all problems ailing society.

While many countries abroad have made it a multi-billion dollar industry, in India, particularly in Tamil Nadu, its usefulness is not understood fully.

The Tamil Nadu State Yoga Association today staged a novel protest. Led by its president, the 80-year old Hatha Yoga master, Asana Andiappan, the Association wants the State Government to appoint trained Yoga teachers in its proposed project to teach Yoga in Government schools from the next Academic year.

They also want a Council to be set up to grant accreditation to Yoga therapists and practitioners.

- Swahilya.

Caption: Members of the Tamil Nadu State Yoga Association standing in Ekapadasana or Vrikshasana, pressing their demands on Saturday morning.

Something more

Something more to say...

With an experience of writing for the past 15 years in leading newspapers of the India - The Indian Express and now The Hindu, there's quite a lot that I have to say on issues - Education, Environment, Civic Awareness, Solid Waste Management, Art, History, Culture, Politics, Tourism, Human Resource Development.
Awards in Animal Welfare Journalism from Exnora International and the Rotary Award for Vocational Excellence given for my coverage on Environment and Ecology in the State of Tamil Nadu, have come by my way. Here is a space for me to plumb deeper into the ocean of journalism and publishing.

It is all in that's fit to print of course, but the printed space is limited and so I shall explore into cyber space with photos, stories and links to my articles in The Hindu. - Swahilya, Senior Reporter, The Hindu.