My journey through Minimalism

When we think of minimalism what usually comes to our mind is a clean white dining table, a white wall with an expensive Sony smart TV,  an iPhone & a book ( that is not opened yet ) on top of a black wooden teapoy, a big wall shelf with almost nothing in it, another table for a MacBook. These are the pictures that immediately materialize in our minds when we think of minimalism. All the gurus who preach minimalism shows them in their marketing videos.

This is far from the reality of minimalism (at least for me). Living like a minimalist in those ways, we will end up our life not as a minimalist but as an interior designer. There is a purpose to everything. The sole purpose of minimalism is to buy extra time for ourself so that we can focus on things that matter most and which is top in our priority list.

my 600 sqft apartment

I am practising minimalism for a while. In the beginning, like many, I was also embarrassed because I was comparing my way of minimalism with the leadership guru's lifestyle as seen in their youtube videos. Slowly I started defining my own minimalism and the dots began to connect. I reduced my intake. I simplified my financial goals. I am now at my thirties. Rather than taking the burden of a huge loan, I rented a house for now.

Minimalism is also not about living cheap. I too have a MacBook pro which I need for my work. The first step in this journey was to declutter my life. Get rid of the stuff which doesn't give any value to my life. I had a shelf full of notebooks, Many utensils in the kitchen which I haven't touched for years, two stoves, many many clothes.

Minimalism can be applied to many dimensions of life. Minimalism is more than just reducing the intake of stuff. There is thought minimalism, financial minimalism, conversation minimalism (what we learn, say, hear), digital minimalism, health minimalism, control intake of news,  etc.

Statutory warning: Don't force minimalism on your partner. You will be in hell.

Covid 19 tracking

Creating a route map of the identified covid-19 patients is a big issue now with many not revealing correct details to the healthcare department. Can't the governments collaborate with Google and Apple to obtain the location history of the patients from their smartphones? CellID information is available with Mobile Service Providers. With all these details the exact route map and even the people who came close to the positive cases can be identified and alerted. Big data analytics can be utilised here. 

The fruitless plastic ban

The imposed plastic ban is effective only at banning the thin plastic covers which contributes to a small percentage of the total plastic production. Shampoo bottles, paste tubes, powder tins, bakery items, etc. are packed in plastic bottles. Many of them can be made reusable.

A system comprises the collection of reusable bottles, sort it by companies and transport it to the manufacturers can be envisaged. Government, companies & people have to work together to achieve this.

Many cities have implemented the two bin one bag system. A green colour bin for biodegradable wastes and a red one for hazardous wastes. Along with this, a separate reusable (maybe yellow) bin is suggested. The reusable bottles can have a reusable emblem so that people can identify and put it on the reusable bin. Corporation department can then set up a procedure to segregate and bring it to the companies.

In this way, we can make plastic production to the minimum. For example, instead of using plastic covers to pack washing powder the manufacturer can sell it on a plastic bottle. This plastic bottle can be reused if properly recycled. There is an inevitable onetime production. After that, the production is only when there is an increase in demand.

The right time to put nose-string to corruption

With this spectacular win in the Delhi election, AAP has a more serious responsibility of preventing corruption from root squaring in the party. Two consecutive wins increase the probability of corruption.

The popularity of AAP is going to skyrocket in the coming years due to the novel administration put in place by Kejriwal and his party. Unlike others, they focused and spent their time more on the people and their problems than blaming other parties. While Modi was boasting about the new endeavours that he inaugurated in the media as if it was his mercy, Kejriwal treated them as his duty. In all of his actions, Kejriwal tried to fend off corruption even though few incidents were reported.

He had a clear plan and a professional approach (thanks to his education) of what he wanted to do since commencement. His media presence was minimal compared to other party heads (This may be attributed to the fact that many of the major news media are allies of the ruling party). And whenever he confronts the media, it was mostly to discuss his plans and new initiatives. Modi & Rahul comes to media only to calumniate others.

But with all of AAPs services they should seriously think of envisaging novel practices to reduce the in house corruption. Delhi Metro is an example of how such a system can be implemented and put in place where there is no scope for corruption. The credit for that is attributed to only one man the karma yogi, ‘E. Sreedharan’.

BJP has won in 2014 not because they have done something useful to the country. People were desperate about Congress' countrywide corruption. Now they are becoming hopeless with BJP. Kerala is going through the same situation. The politicians are mocking at people. They know that people don't have a choice other than LDF & UDF. So anyway they will get a chance to ravage in every five years. It is the same situation in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana and many other states. The politicians reach an agreement with each other. This is what has to be changed. 

We should have at least 5 major parties. Then there will be a tight competition. See what happened to taxi services. With the advent of Uber/Ola, the Taxi/auto services were forced to charge nominal rates. What is happening on Internet & Mobile service industry. JIO, Airtel, Vodafone, BSNL, ACTs,  Hathway - there is competition.

Misuse of power - thoughts on Kunal/Arnab issue

Had Arnab faced any annoyance on air, he could have complained to the airlines and police. Instead, he escalated the issue directly to the ministry. The minister ordered Indigo & all other airlines to impose a ban on Kunal!!. And to placate the minister, airlines carried out it without further investigation. How can a minister put direct order to punish a citizen? Such powers are bestowed in the judiciary and not with the ministers. Their duties are bound to direct and co-ordinate government activities. It is a clear case of dictatorship. But this is India, not North Korea.

How can personal grudge be avenged by means of political influence? Hundreds of such incidents are happening at airports without any attention. Will they involve if it has happened to a congress MP? 

Solidarity to Kunal who slapped a legal notice on Indigo.

Climate Change, Hyperloop, US Russia Border - Some random thoughts

The aviation industry produces 2% of the total human-induced CO2 emissions and it is accountable for 12% of CO2 emissions from the transportation industry. The realtime flight tracking software Flightradar24 delineate how terrifying it is. This year Indian subcontinent faced its all-time high hurricanes per year which were more than the last 38 years combined. 

There is no doubt that it is man-made and we are at the brink of no return. We have the technologies to avoid or reduce the usage of petrol. But due to the vested interests of the rich & affluent, we are unable to put it in place.

Photo by Louis Hansel on Unsplash. ( Sorry for my horrible edits )

An interesting thing to be noted is that all continents are connected. Even the US is connected to Russia with a gap of 40 km of the sea (which is not a big problem with the technologies that we have). In a map, it may not be clear, but on a globe/google earth it is evident. Therefore, practically it is possible to transport via land. 

Hyperloop is an energy-efficient mode of passenger and freight transportation. It may not be as fast as a flight but considering the other advantages such as resource efficiency, cost, etc. it is the best solution. In the same way, how air space is shared, the countries can share their land also for it, as a no country zone.

Our petrol reservoirs are draining at a faster pace. We need to prioritise fuel efficiency over luxury. Cars with high engine power may be a status symbol or a luxury, but not at the cost of natural resources. Studies say that our petrol reserves will extinct in 50 years with the current rate of consumption. 

A minimal fuel - mileage efficiency has to be imposed on vehicles' manufacturers to get road permit for a model. Another thing to be banned is charging mobile phones/watching televisions in the car. All of which is powered by electricity generated from petrol which is an absurd way of electricity generation.