I cry in the perfect storm of a pandemic

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Today I cried,

When I read a tribute to a 53-year-old colleague who lost her life 2 days after her husband's,

When my cousin lamented being unable to meet his mum, not knowing when, and if, he ever would,

When my friend lost her dad a day after she reached out to me for help to find him oxygen, and caregivers,

When I saw a 65-year-old gingerly cradling an empty oxygen cylinder as she walked swiftly away from an ICU, her fear writ in her gait.

Today I cried.

 

That day I cried,

When I realised, India’s steep climb of cases would mean I would miss my niece's wedding,

When 1.3million people decided to dip themselves in the divine nectar of immortality while condemning 100s to a breathless lonely death,

When rallies garnered support from the people whose health, livelihood and life meant less than the paper on which they vote,

When the injustice to millions of children forced to learn online for 14 months is balanced by adults unwilling to campaign online for a fraction of the time,

When I saw the plight of millions of migrants walk 1000s of kilometres home, abandoned by those who should uphold their rights and welfare,

That day I cried.

 

I cry for

The daily wage earner who begs for money from our homes, to feed her children,

The household helper, who can't visit his dying mother, to hold her hand one last time,

The helplessness, despair, and tears of our healthcare workers who appeal for common sense and self-preservation.

​​I cry with them.

 

I cry out in anger,

At the reactionary emergency meetings

Held too late in the corridors of power,

When what we desperately need is swift proactive action.

In helplessness I cry,

As I realise, we are in a perfect storm of

A deadly virus,

A huge careless population, and

The deliberate negligence of governance.

You And I Are Responsible For NCR's Pollution

8 Nov 2017: Rachna Singh Ganguli
drives to office in Noida;
coping with palpitations and panic

Yes! We are!! You and I. We are responsible for the death chamber that we now live in. 

Over the last couple of days, all of social media seems to be filled with pictures of the pollution smog that is suffocating the city, the PM levels, what to do to protect ourselves, and statements that hold the government wholly and solely responsible for shaving years off our lives. 

Two years ago I wrote a post with what I thought were Simple Suggestions to Reduce Delhi's Pollution. I sent it to agencies that I thought could do something. Something that would prevent pollution. Some of the suggestions have been implemented (in part), and some haven't. 

But is the government the only entity responsible for the death-grip we are in today? 

8 Nov 2017: Meenu Iyer photographs
the haze over Surajkund Road &
Aravali stretch

I say "No"! You and I are. 

And I hear your indignation when you ask me, "Why?". Here's why.......

1. If you burst crackers for Deepawali or Chaat Puja or a wedding or India's various sports wins, you are a part of the problem
2. If you drive a diesel car, you are a part of the problem
3. If you have not 'pollution checked' your vehicle, you are a part of the problem
4. If you have done any construction in Oct or Nov, you are a part of the problem
5. If you drive to a place you can easily walk to, you are a part of the problem
6. If you don't use public transport whenever you can, you are a part of the problem
7. If you insist on sending your children to school in a car when they can use a school bus, you are a part of the problem
8. If you have cut down a tree, or covered up greenery, you are a part of the problem
9. If you have not greened your home, you are a part of the problem
10. If you have burned trash or leaves, you are a part of the problem
11. If you have kept quiet as you watched leaves / crops / rubbish being burnt, you are a part of the problem
12. If you are not conserving electricity, you are a part of the problem
13. If you have not started car pooling, you are a part of the problem
14. If you have not advocated for work-from-home options, or shuttle services or anything that will reduce pollution, you are a part of the problem
15. If you have not lobbied with your government representative to do something to restrict & reduce pollution, you are a part of the problem

I have been guilty of may of these these myself and I have decided that I will do at least one thing to help make a positive impact. Throughout the year. Consistently. Thoughtfully. 

Here are some actions you and I can take, in addition to not doing the 15 things listed above, that I believe can help.

1. Don't wash your car, use the same water to wash the dust off the leaves of trees near your home.
2. Grow plants. Any plants. Green your balcony, your driveway, your terrace. Anything really.
3. Reduce, reuse, recycle. Everything. 
4. Reduce electricity consumption specifically.
5. Do not burn crackers ever. Not for Christmas. Not for New Year's. Never.
6. If you head a business, ask everyone who can, to work-from-home for a few days. Then work on making this a large scale initiative.

Tell me what you plan to do specifically to reduce pollution. 

You and I have to be a part of the solution. 

For if we stay a part of the problem, we are killing each other.

And committing suicide.

So stop cribbing and do something!

Simple Suggestions to Reduce Delhi's Pollution

(c) 2015 Economic Times

Delhi's pollution is killing us slowly. We all know it. We feel it. In many places in Delhi, we literally see it. Pollution has a dangerous form and substance. And yet, any suggestions to reduce pollution levels is met with loud cries on why and how it will fail. Equally loud is the silence of the same vocal detractors with alternate solutions.

From my simplistic point-of-view, the Delhi Government and its citizens, need to do much much more. Here is my list of things that can be done. 

Is anyone listening?

1. The car odd/even rationing should cover all private vehicles including scooters and motorbikes. It should cover all government vehicles whether state or central government. The only VIPs allowed to drive on any day are the president and prime minister.  That's it. No one else.
2. Keep exclusions low. If women are excluded from the restriction, let the restriction removal enable women to car pool with other women or men.   
3. Ban the sale of all diesel vehicles (public / private) till whenever we have “greener” diesel available in the city. Retire any diesel cars that are older than 10 years.
4. Convert government diesel vehicles to CNG vehicles, if possible & as fast as possible. 
5. Put Delhi bypass highway construction and opening on critical path, so that trucks bypass the city. 
6. Ban the burning of leaves and refuse in the city. Challan heavily all violations. If the burning happens in a gated community and the perpetrator can not be identified, then the community is charged.
7. Ban the sale and lighting of crackers for any occasion whether it is for Diwali or Christmas or a wedding or when India wins a cricket match. 
8. Ban / restrict construction in the city in the months where pollution is the highest historically – Nov, Dec, Jan. Or demand that all construction and material be covered so that concrete, cement, wood, stone, silica and sand dust are not blown into the atmosphere.
9. Fix roads to enable smooth flow of traffic. Potholes slow down traffic. Any construction or digging for water / electricity cables need to be done at non traffic times and trenches created must be filled and re-tared immediately, else the contract work shall not be deemed as completed. 
10. On roads where there are shrines or depots that restrict traffic flow – move these elsewhere or push them back from the road to remove congestion on roads
11. Ban processions on roads for weddings / religious ceremonies – these hamper traffic flow.
12. Green Delhi - Large scale planting of trees. For e.g. Every MCD parking lot must have x number of trees planted in a 60-day time frame (base this in square foot area). And this green cover needs to be maintained.
13. Increase dramatically public transport capacity – metro coaches, buses, etc
14. Encourage private companies to start shuttle services / carpooling (maybe even incentivize them)
15. Give companies a break in corporate tax (or something like that) if they have at least 20% of their workforce working from home.
16. Stagger office timings based on office location. For example, all offices in Central Delhi (CP) must start at 8am and end at 4:30pm. Then the next concentric circle starts at 8:30am and ends at 5 pm and so on.
17. Define clearly emergency personnel and services and situations that are exempt, such as having to drive a pregnant woman to hospital or fire and police services. 
18. Let the police monitor adherence at major choke points so that they are not spread thin. The police can randomly change locations to cover larger areas.
19. Ensure that autos are parked properly without restricting traffic such as at metro stations. The auto queue is so maintained that the next available auto has to go where the passenger needs to go. There is no choice.
20. Ensure that cabs and autos can not and do not charge any surge pricing.  This holds for OLA and Uber and the black and yellow taxis and autos of all types. Set up a control room where the driver's photo and plate number can be sent to a control room. More than 3 violations are dealt with strictly.
21. Create citizen police support teams to help police manage the additional work. So people from civil society volunteer to work with police personnel to monitor adherence to new rules. This will enable us to have more places monitored. Leverage college students, retirees, those who do not have jobs, etc.
22. Run massive communication campaigns that build pride in being an eco-friendly person. Such as badges for being a 365 day car-pooler, or some such thing.
23. Encourage schools to become car-free. Children commute to and from school  only on school buses and parents are actively discouraged from using their cars.

All I ask is that we do whatever is needed to reduce pollution, however difficult it may seem.

Lets give it an honest try before rejecting it. 

For the alternative is death. A slow death. On a massive scale.

India's Daughter : My Take on the Outrage

Image from NDTV

4th March, 2015: There is huge outrage on the airing of the documentary called India’s Daughter. We have not seen it, and without seeing it, we are ready to condemn the release of the documentary. My personal take:

1. If we truly want to address the issue of rape, abuse of women, & gender inequality in India, than we need to understand where the perpetrators of these crimes come from, what are they thinking, what is the context and drivers of their behavior.  We will then be better equipped to address these issues. Is a documentary the best way to do this?  I don’t know.  But it is better than doing nothing, changing nothing since Dec 2012.
2. I wonder why people are more disgusted with the interview of the convicts, than with the open, strident, call-to-violence-against-women of the defence lawyers. Upholders of the law, the defence lawyers themselves, have openly made statements that are in violation of our constitution (gender bias and inequality) and our laws (burning alive a daughter - murder). And there is nothing that our government or law enforcement agencies are doing to punish them.
3. The documentary shows the common views about women.  Let all those who see themselves sharing the views of the convicts and defence lawyers, know that they are themselves rapists and criminals.
4. We have to bring attitudes of people – men and women - out in the open.  If seeing the documentary, opens a few minds, disgusts someone enough to teach respect for women, scares someone enough to prevent a crime against a woman, helps people speak out against atrocity and oppression, then it is worth it. This is the reality of the country I live in.  This is the reality we face every day.
5. I love my country.  And loving my country does not mean that I cannot confront the reality of living in India.  I don’t care if other countries have more rape cases than mine.  I do not care if in other countries there is more violence against women than in mine.  If cases like this need to be brought to the forefront, then so be it. I want my country to be one where I can truly live free as a woman, because I love my country.  

   

   Image from NDTV

6. Should we not respect the wishes of Nirbhaya’s parents, themselves, who have pretty much endorsed the documentary?  Would it not be shameful if we let our anger, disgust, and hurt become bigger than that felt and lived, every minute of every day, by Nirbhaya’s parents? So should we not respect what they want, and let the documentary air?
7. So I ask

·    direct your hurt and anger towards the lack of progress on making India safer for women

·    direct your outrage at the lack of convictions and punishments of rapists

·    direct your voice towards demanding for better laws and implementation of laws

·    direct the power of your vote to demand of your MPs and MLAs that they push forward bills in parliament

Code of Conduct and Certification Needed Urgently For Our Politicians

Over the last few days, I have read, with a sinking heart, the letter Jayanthi Natarajan wrote to Sonia Gandhi, responses and questions that parties and politicians have raised, counter-allegations and commentaries made by party spokes persons, journalists, et al.  In all this noise of Rahul-Gandhi-and-Congress haters, we seem to have forgotten to demand:

1. Where is the defined Code of Conduct for elected officials?
2. How can we prevent undue influence in conducting the business of government?

There is no excuse for doing something wrong

I find it disgusting that any Government official can state that they did something wrong because they were asked to by a supervisor / superior.  Ask anyone in corporate India if this is a valid reason. No, it isn't.  It is not an acceptable excuse.  If a supervisor asks you to jump off the roof, would you?  No. If something is wrong, it is WRONG.

Anyone who has been through Compliance Training and Certification knows this.  One of the best Compliance Trainers I know, tells batches of learners, to listen to their inner voice, to their feelings. He says, "If you feel something is not correct, or something makes you uncomfortable, or you can not openly talk about what you are doing / not doing (other than company secrets), then the chances are you are that you are doing something that is not compliant with the Code of Business Conduct of the company. DON'T DO IT!"

Where is the Code of Conduct for Elected Officials?

Try Google-ing "code of conduct for politicians in India" and all you will get is the code of conduct defined by the Election Commission.  This code of conduct covers what political parties and politicians can and can not do during an election campaign. After they are elected, it seems that there is no code of conduct.

From what I can see, elected officials fall back on the oath that they take when they are appointed to an office. The oath is a long one liner, with no specifics, guidelines, rules, etc. I believe that just swearing to bear allegiance to the constitution of India is not enough.

Why can we not have a code of conduct for our elected officials? One that they must be trained and certified on before they take responsibility and accountability of any office?  Why can we not have them sign a Declaration of Compliance to this Code of Conduct as we do in corporate India?

Mr / Ms Politician, Allegiance to Country Trumps Allegiance to Party

Given that we are a democratic country, I am disgusted that political parties are autocracies.  What the party head wants is what is done, even if the party head is not an  elected and appointed member of government.  Where is the debate?  Maybe this is done behind closed doors, maybe not.  But to me, the ordinary not-so-political Indian, it seems that all parties are run like small fiefdoms.

Elected officials, seem to have forgotten that they are here "for the people".  What seems to be more important is to keep the autocrat happy vs do what is right for the country.  If the county was more important, then all it takes is for the elected official to refuse to do what is incorrect, to fight for what is right, face down the dictator. Become the whistle-blower.

There is no role of  30 years of service to a political party or loyalty to the high command.  It fades into nothingness, if what is done hurts the country.  For it is disloyal to the country.

I believe that the issue of undue influence of party on governance exists in all parties.
I believe that we need a code of conduct for all elected members of government.
I believe we need strict action against violators, irrespective of age, seniority, party.

Try taking a page out of Corporate India.  We do have some good practices.