Green Legends

Just read a story about a disciple asking the Buddha for a new bedsheet. Upon being asked, he said he used the old sheet to make window curtains, the curtains to make napkins, the napkins were used to make mops, the mops being in tatters were used to make wicks for oil-lamps! Whew! That was actually a trip down memory lane. Why? Our older generation actually has used old saris to make curtains. I have made Indian dresses out of old saris too. We have seen our elders buying vegetables using cloth bags sewn from old clothes. Now why have we become so obsessed with showing off our buying capabilities ? I wonder if we were better off with less spending power just a few decades ago.  There was no need to shout out to our elders to use less plastic, because they anyway did.  Plastic tiffin boxes have replaced the old steel and brass-lined lunch-boxes.  We never had to worry about plastics or colours leeching into our foods. Plastic disposables have replaced the beautiful plates and bo

Shyamala Aunty's house was very close to the Kukkanahalli Lake. Some beautiful vistas unfolded from the backside of the Lake too, especially views of the sunset. It was not uncommon to see lovers holding hands all along the Lake's grass.  This was during my childhood. Birds roosted without a care on the low branches dipping into the placid waters. All this was a part of the languorous life that we Mysoreans typically lived, in our simple world of Brindavan Gardens and the Mysore Palace.  But oh! Time passed, the greed of mankind started to eat up the clean air, muddy up the rivers, so how could my Lake be left behind? Last year, during our visit to my dear parents' home, my hubby and I decided to spend the mornings walking around the Kukkanahalli Lake. The water had reduced, silt was choking it, the cormorants, storks and ibises still nested, perhaps sensing that all good things would come to an end?  Weep not, Oh lonely bird... Around the lake in the mi