Welcoming...

In the deep blue sky are millions of stars,And on this green land are only a few stars,
To know more about the twinklin star,we all gape using a telescope,
To know more about this shinning star. All you have is my blogspot in your scope

Welcome to the ROMANTIC brackets of { Vinuthan }

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Why do married women wear sindoor


 
     
    I  A M  S I N G LE         I  A M  M A R R I E D

Sindoor is a red powder (Vermilion) used by married Hindu women. Single women wear the dot in different colors ("bindi" in Hindi) but do not apply sindoor. 


During the marriage ceremony (Sindoor-Dana), the groom applies sindoor to the parting-line of his bride's hair (also called mang) to show that she is now a married woman. Subsequent sindoor is applied by the wife as part of her dressing routine. Once widowed, a woman is not supposed to wear sindoor. 


In Hindu culture, the tradition of wearing Sindoor is said to have been prevailing through more than 5,000 years. According to the scholars, red is the color of power and vermilion represents the female energy of Sati and Parvati. Sati is considered an ideal Hindu wife because she gave her life for her husband's honor. Hindus believe that Goddess Parvati grants "Akhand Soubhagya" (lifelong good fortune) to all the females who wear sindoor in their hair parting.

S A T I 

L O R D P A R V A T I

        
Sindoor expresses a woman's desire for a long life for their husbands. The reason sindoor is red is because it comes from vermilion, and it is said to represent strength and love. The displaying of the sindoor is considered very important since the bride belongs to the groom. It also signifies that the wife is now under the protection of her husband and that anyone who harms her would find that their blood would be shed.

Traditional Sindoor is made with turmeric and alum or lime, or from other herbal ingredients

Adi Sankaracharya writes in Soundarya Lahari (Translated bY P. R. Ramachander) 

"Tanothu kshemam nas tava vadhana-saundarya lahari. Parivaha-sthrotah-saraniriva seemantha-saranih. Vahanti sinduram prabala-kabari-bhara-thimira-. Dvisham brindair bandi-krtham iva navin'arka kiranam"
Oh mother, let the line parting thine hairs, Which looks like a canal, Through which the rushing waves of your beauty ebbs, And which on both sides imprisons, Your Vermilion , which is like a rising sun, By using your hair which is dark like, The platoon of soldiers of the enemy, Protect us and give us peace.


Saturday, April 03, 2010

Waste CEO

It is appraisal time for us now in India and how appropriate it is to write an article tagged as Waste CEO. So what is the fuss all about? Is this an article about my CEO? Curious! Cool..Now that you have landed here, let me take your precious time in making you read something interesting. First question, Do you think [my/your] CEO is BAD?. Now your mind would have made decisions as soon as you have read this question. Not yet! OK, then close your eyes and think again. Do remember the decision and let us come back to this at the end of this page.

 
The story begins here.......


Where does all these wastes get dumped? Wastes of a millions of houses. Something to think about. This is the point from where my mind started to think and hands started to key in search texts in Google for more information. Remember sometime back the TV channels were flashing news about a ship being caught in Indian Shores with wastes and India was used as a dumping yard. Yes, I do remember.


But why dump @ our shores? There is huge money @ stake people. It is a 300 billion euros worth industry by itself. Interesting!.  This is where my eagerness grew to be a Waste CEO and start a waste management unit :). Hence this article titled Waste CEO. Now that you are aware of what I intend to write let me share some more information that I found during the course of deciding whether to be or not be a waste CEO

In India, mostly this is undertaken by Govt. of India. This could be privatized in US or elsewhere. 


The study estimates that, at present, the world produces at least four billion metric tons (4000 billion KG) of waste a year - equivalent to world production of grain and steel combined. However, Professor Chalmin stressed that that figure excludes construction, mining, agricultural and forestry wastes - suggesting that the real figure is much larger.
Of this, only around one billion tonnes is thought to be recycled, composted or used to produce energy. Of this developed countries produce an average 1.4 kilogram (kg) of waste per capita per day, compared to 0.6kg in the Third World.

So why recycle ratio is less? 
 
Waste Pyramid



Industry Worthiness: 300 billion euros. a 56 billion US industry. Paper and paperboard, food scraps and plastics dominate this waste.

Production
Municipal waste is 1.9 billion tonnes, Manufacturing Waste is about 2 billion tonnes, non hazardous waste is 1.67 billion and hazardous waste is 490 million

Top 10 countries producing waste (2005/2006 statistics)
US( 236 million tons), Russia (208), Japan (53), Germany (49),  UK (35), Mexico (33), France (33), Italy (30), Spain (27), Turkey (26). [Not the latest statistics]



And the Winner is US. The U.S. manages to produce a quarter of the world's waste despite the fact that its population of 300 million is less than 5% of the world's population, according to 2005 estimates. India might soon be there with the population we have.




 
Types of waste



What is waste? Any substance or object which the holder discards, or intends or is required to discard. 

View of Economists:  Waste is a negative externality.: both consumption and manufacturing activities generate waste with a negative impact on the well being of populations (environmental pollution) outside any market context.

Heath Hazards
  • If not managed properly, it can lead to various health issues. 
  • The practice of discarding chemicals, which are highly toxic in nature, into rivers is highly hazardous to the environment. 
  • It has a severe adverse impact on the quality of water. When disposed of improperly; it contaminates ground and surface water supplies. As a result, it contaminates drinking water which in turn affects public health as well as aquatic life.
  • Breast cancer, prostate cancer and childhood brain disorders are increasing at an alarming rate and the increasing rates of contamination and pollution have only furthered these health problems. There is also a rise in certain maladies like autism and learning disabilities. 
  • Improper disposal of hazardous waste have deadly effects on nearby plants, animals and people. 
  • Birth defects, including cleft palates and heart problems
  • And may be Global Warming too



Well now do I wish to be a Waste CEO? Certainly NOT and this is ILLEGAL TOO. But yes, being an Engineer surely would want to take an initiative in finding out ways to effectively manage wastes without dumping it.


A treaty was signed by many developing countries (Including India) and poor countries (Basel Convention by 115 countries) in 1992 which bans dumping wastes. 

Message: So next time when you dump, do think whether you can prevent it. Daily unknowingly you are contributing to the billion worth illegal industry and also throwing away money. Well some wastes though cannot be avoided :)

Finally for the readers who assumed that there would be some gossips on my CEO in this article, I would like to make some justice to them by telling "Well my CEO is cool, smart and good". We should always respect the people who enable us shelter and food. Shouldn't we?

Hope this was informative and do post comments if you like it or have more useful information!

You may also want to read
http://scp.eionet.europa.eu/themes/waste/
Images are downloaded via Google Images and accuracy of facts and figures is based on what I found in various articles.

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