COVID-19 doomed all of our plans about engagements, weddings, travels and other events made for the year 2020 as it put all of us under lockdown which is still continuing in some parts of world. After a while, some “Unlock” attempts few parts of the world witnessed surge in new cases. This lead the announcement of second lockdown in few countries. Even in India, we are witnessing the similar situation. We are humans and it’s not our thing to reveal the future. However, there’s a saying in Hindi – “उम्मीद पर दुनिया कायम है |” which means ‘world lives on a hope’. So, today, I am writing a theme reveal post for #BlogchatterA2Z – 2021 Edition. Drum roll please!!! 🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁
Incredible India!!!
Our country is really fascinating. There is a wide spectrum in every aspect about our country. Be it the terrain from mountains to sea shores, or different climatic conditions from freezing Himalayas to scorching Rajasthan. We have witnessed births of new religions and accepted migrant ones while practicing our age old one. We change language by every mile we travel. There are so many places to talk about.
We all are eager to travel again and can’t help ourselves from making plans even with uncertainty about the future in these COVID times. So this year, I am coming up with a daily suggestions over the complete month of April. These are 26 places in our own “Incredible India”, each starting from an English alphabet associated with that day. You will get all Sundays to plan your journey around these place. So, this is kind of my Travel Bucket List which I would love to complete as soon as possible. Hope this will activate the travel bug inside you too. So, Fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the ride…
P.S. I have not visited all the places and it is just a compilation of information available online on various sources. It may provide you a ready reference.
Today marks the beginning of amazing journey of A2Z Challenge with the Blogchatter. You can find my entries for earlier A2Z challenges here.
Today is 14th March and since 1997, it is observed and celebrated as an International Day of Action for Rivers. Participants from 20 countries attending the first International Meeting of People Affected by Dams, decided on this date to unite to conserve and protect rivers, other water bodies and watersheds against destruction. This year, we are celebrating this day with the theme “Rights of Rivers”. Today when we are equipped with cutting edge technology and engineering, we think we can command the forces of nature to do our bidding. We have encroached too much on nature and ignored their rights. Rights they have because of the might of beastly forces they possess. This perceived supremacy over nature has blinded us and we keep encroaching more and more upon the Rights of Rivers and streams. However, the culture of the Indian subcontinent was not like this before.
Described as सुजलां सुफलां in our national song वंदे मातरम् by Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay, India is the Land of Plenty. Northern Himalayin perennial rivers like Ganga, Sindhu and Yamuna, uniquely west bound river Narmada; Godavari and Krishna as lifelines of Maharashtra and Telangana; Kaveri of Karnataka and Andhra along with colossal Brahmaputra have given this quality to this subcontinent. Over the thousands of years, these mighty rivers gave birth to many civilizations along their banks with the constant flow of life between their origin and mouth. We consider our rivers as Goddesses and worship them every evening with a pomp in many cities. Ganga Aarti from Varanasi and Prayag is a very famous event. Right from the Sindhu Civilization of Harappa, Mohenjodaro and hundreds of other settlements to today’s modern cities of India, we are totally dependent on this constant flow of life. With the progress and development of civilization, humans started bending the forces of nature to their convenience. It curbed the Rights of Rivers. We dammed the constant flow of life
What are the Rights of Rivers?
I believe there are two very basic rights which rivers have carved themselves, in literal and figurative sense. First is to “flow continuously” from its origin in hills to the mouth to meet the sea and second is the “Right of Way” between the banks which it has carved itself by flowing for thousands of years.
Settlements started to grow on the banks of rivers as they were a source of water for all human activities like agriculture and industries along with household consumption. Increased urban population leads to the surge in water demand. Cities started looking for surety of water supply. Many rivers in India are not perennial as they are solely dependent on monsoon for the water. We started constructing dams to solve this problem and assure the constant water supply. As of the beginning of 2021, India has over 5700 large dams across the country. There are many more small dams and barrages scattered all over the country.
The flow of water in the rivers is almost zero as every city tries to hold almost all the water in the dams to cater to the ever increasing demand of the city. For example, Mutha River in Pune sadly now carries only sewage that is coming from the STPs of the city. Khadakwasla dam does not release any water in the river unless it is full in the monsoon days. As a result, there is no water flowing in the river. The natural ecological stability of the downstream region depends on flowing water in the river. Even The Krishna Basin Tribunal has ordered 6 cusecs of constant water flow in the river. However, the ground reality is a complete contrast to the order.
Rivers and streams flow between the two banks which are carved by the river itself. Rivers undergo waxing and veining as seasons change throughout the year. This is another important Right which rivers have carved for themselves. During monsoon, with the heavy rainfall in upstream catchment areas, rivers do come out the banks and inundate the plains which are above the banks. We call this phenomenon “flood.” There are regulations in urban areas to deter the construction and occupation of the floodplains to avoid the loss of life and property if flood occurs. Flood zones are marked with probability analysis of possible inundations in case of high floods. These flood zones are no development zones. However, lawmakers considered the definition of the River and River Channel “no brainer” and did not formulate it when they created these rules and laws.
These two things have created a loophole in development controls and Indian cities are witnessing a huge encroachment in the river and flood zones. Small streams are the feeder networks of the rivers. They are literally murdered by dumping debris into and constructing upon them. The chain of River ecosystems in its watersheds is broken with the loss of these streams. As a result, Indian cities are facing devastating effects of broken ecosystems. One part of the country faces urban flooding with short bursts of heavy rainfall. While there is a drought in the other parts of the country at the same time. The Mumbai floods of 26th July 2005 was the first alarming event from the chain and since then it is happening in one city or the other regularly. Surat, Chennai, Bangalore, Kedarnath (Uttarakhand), Kashmir. List goes on. Every monsoon, the list gets longer and longer.
Honoring the Rights of Rivers
To sustain human settlements and live a good life we should start respecting the rights of rivers. As a common citizen, we should stop polluting the rivers by our personal actions. We should create an awareness for banks of rivers and streams to be the sacrosanct Right of Way.
Let us join our hands and think about the rivers as trustees tasked with taking care of them for our future generations and protecting Rights of Rivers.
What do we think when we hear, read or talk about the word “Environment”? The picture we paint of the environment is of lush green forests, clean and flowing rivers, hills and mountains free from plastic and other waste, pollution free oceans and clean air. However, we conveniently ignore that all parts of the earth are not supposed to be covered with lush green forests. Some might be barren with fine sand and scattered thorny shrubs, or vast grasslands without any sight of large trees for acres and acres. The landforms and the flora-fauna they support come in a variety of packages. These are governed by the geo-climatic conditions of the region. Let’s look at the components of the environment.
Components of Environment
Components
Environment is a pretty large umbrella term. It comprises all the natural features which we can observe on the earth, under rivers and oceans and other water bodies, in the atmosphere surrounding the Earth. It also comes with some underground features like ground water, fossil fuels and other mineral deposits. But, this is an incomplete list of environmental components. We always tend to forget that humans are very much a component of this environment. Thankfully, the time of denial has passed. Now globally we are ready to at least recognize the adverse impacts of our actions which are leading to increased rates of global warming.
Few steps are being taken to reduce these impacts. Some frameworks have been established to monitor or amend some wrong doings. The United Nations Development Programme has come up with 13 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). India is a signatory nation to SDGs. Similarly, State Governments have drafted policies and decided the goals to achieve.
For urban areas in India, all the local governments have to prepare and table the annual Environmental Status Report (ESR) as per the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act.
This report should act as the base for the city’s policy to take a step towards sustainability. But if we look at the reports, we can observe that the granularity of data and the scope of environmental indicators keep on varying from city to city. Very rarely we get any actionable suggestion or plan in these reports. Almost every city has ignored the data about one common parameter the Built Environment is ignored
What is a Built Environment?
Built Environment is a major component of urban areas. It covers all the buildings, amenities, services and infrastructure created to have a good quality of life in urban areas. ESR should be certainly prepared incorporating indicators about the built environment. Centre for Development Studies and Activities (CDSA), Pune has created a framework data ecosystem which enables the recording and analysis of the data on the indicators of the built environment in urban areas and strongly advocates the significance of the “Built” component of the Environment umbrella. One cannot ignore this component when the aim is to achieve Sustainability
In many ways, the built environment is the manifestation of our good and bad practices. It represents unsustainable and polluting materials that might be used for construction but also natural, environmentally safe materials.
CDSA has initiated a movement for public participation called “Quantified Cities Movement”. The movement engages us in observing and safeguarding urban quality of life. Movement works as a catalyst in spreading awareness about various aspects of quality of life and environment. Please do join the movement and understand our environment better and in a holistic way.
Bhuleshwar, is a secluded hill temple dedicated to lord Shiva. It is considered that mythologically the temple is built by the Pandavas but historically it is renovated by Yadava kings around 1230 AD. Restrictions imposed due to COVID-19 were relaxed recently in Maharashtra and temples are now open. Hence, we took the opportunity to visit this temple on one of the last Sunday of November. The whole ambiance of the temple complex was serene. It had that cold calmness of classic Shiva temples which I notice in all of them, regardless of how big or small the temple is. This post is a photo-series of my experience in the temple.
Every wall and façade of the temple is ornamented with beautiful sculptures. Because of this, the temple is a treasure trove for art and photography enthusiast. Sadly, many of them were vandalized and broken. Even though, the light entering the complex was making a very peculiar angle enhancing the beauty of those broken sculptures. The whole setting with the light effects, shattered sculptures and that humid cold air in the temple sown the seed of this poem in my heart. It took me a week to bring it together in a form of a photo-series.
As the subject demands, it is yet another ‘black-n-white’ photo-series. This photo-series is very different than earlier two. It is accompanied by a poem. One stanza for each of the photos. Hope you will enjoy the series below.
बखर ~~~ मागची पाने उलटली वाचली तेव्हा बखर, खंत थोडी वाटली मी टाकली जेव्हा नजर… भंगल्या होत्या जरी का गौरवाच्या या खुणा, आमुच्या रक्तात भिनली आजही त्यांची बखर… जाऊनी गगनास भिडली गोपुरे आणि कळस, गाजविले शौर्य आम्ही घोर हे झाले समर… मारण्या आधी भरारी त्या उंच उंच अंबरी, या भुईची वाटली मी एकदा घ्यावी खबर… ~~~ आदित्य साठे
From my earlier visit
I had visited the place once before, about 5 years ago. It was an amazing experience in itself. I could capture so many breath-taking photos of those gorgeous sculptures around the walls of this beautiful temple complex. I am adding few of those photos from my past visit for you guys, and I am sure you will enjoy them too.
As it is just about 45 km from Pune, on Pune – Solapur Highway, it is a one-day trip which will guaranty you the serenity, calmness, and spiritual connection. So, whenever you guys are down in Pune, or nearby city, do visit the temple.
Pune has a very fascinating history. We are also contributing to it every day. Places like hotels, cafés open up and get lost to the past. These are the places where we gathered pearls of memory. But, now we can never re-visit these places. Then they are lost to the past. This is one of such places ‘Tea Trails’ café on Law College Road
Tea wall from Tea Trails
पुणे शहराला स्वतःचा गौरवशाली इतिहास आहे. आपणही आपल्या पद्धतीने त्यात रोजच भर घालत असतो. अनेक हॉटेल्स, कॅफे दुकाने नव्याने उघडतात, कालांतराने काळाच्या पडद्याआड जातात. अशाच अनेक #गतकालाच्याखुणा पुण्यात आहेत. अशा अनेक जागा आहेत जिथे तुम्ही आम्ही काही आठवणी गोळा केल्या होत्या. पण आता तिथे पुन्हा कधीच जाता येणार नाही. या जागा काळाच्या पडद्या आड गेल्या आहेत. त्यातलीच ही एक जागा. लॉ कॉलेज रस्त्यावरचे ‘टी ट्रेल्स’ कॅफे.
It was a very random plan to meet a friend for a conversation over a coffee or something after her day at clinic. I have never visited this place as tea is not my choice of drink. My friend chose the place as it was her frequent place to relax and write. I was busy admiring and photographing this wall adorned with tea tins. Then barista (is this the right title for tea maker?) behind the counter, presented the box. A variety of tea flavours was available to chose from.
“Kashmiri Kahwa is a perfect choice to end the hectic day.” my friend, a well-known homeopathic psychiatrist and a published author, suggested me on that day. And, she was absolutely right about it. Kahwa indeed helped in soothing the body and calming the mind. I thank her for introducing the place and Kahwa to me. Even after the experience, I wasn’t one of the regulars of the place like she was. Book of Time turned its page and they have to shut Tea Trails, Law College Road. But, memories still linger around.
Creative human needs inspiration, a muse to have that initial spark of creativity. Sometimes, it appears in the form of rains, gorgeous countryside, mountains or sometimes, sheer beauty of beloved stirs strong emotions compelling the creator to write in her praise. However, it’s never that easy process to undergo the laboring pain of this creative birth if you are hit by a creative block. Recently, I had hit the major creative block after an initial spirited burst of video creativity of my YouTube Channel – Adi’s Journal. I lost my progress and improvement of my Alexa rank as well as other SEO rankings due to this slump and disengagement from my blog.
Adi’S Journal got no ranking 😢. it’s time to change that… Alexa, here I come.
It’s time to take a step towards better blogging. Fortunately it’s time for a new season of “My Friend Alexa” campaign initiated by our blogger community called Blogchatter. It will run through the month of October and I hope it will motivate me and get those creative juices flowing again to continue my blogging journey without a break. So, keep an eye out for the #AdisJournalEntry to read my posts in the upcoming campaign. The motto of My Friend Alexa is “Growing Together”. As much as it’s about being consistent in creating it’s also about enjoying the creations of fellow creators. I will be sharing various posts by my fellow creators on my Twitter handle @AdisJournal, where you can find them under #WhatAdiReads. Hope you will also enjoy this journey with us. See you soon with the first entry of My Friend Alexa…
I am taking my Alexa Rank to the next level with #MyFriendAlexa. I have no rank to boast for now, but soon it’s changing. You can find my old posts from the 2019 campaign here. I would like to thank Blogchatter for the support you guys extend to us.
Creative human needs inspiration, a muse to have that initial spark of creativity. Sometimes, it appears in the form of rains, gorgeous countryside, mountains or sometimes, sheer beauty of beloved stirs strong emotions compelling the creator to write in her praise. However, it’s never that easy process to undergo the laboring pain of this creative birth if you are hit by a creative block. Recently, I had hit the major creative block after an initial spirited burst of video creativity of my 
It’s time to take a step towards better blogging. Fortunately it’s time for a new season of “My Friend Alexa” campaign initiated by our blogger community called