Measures To Control Growing Traffic and Pollution

The significance of petrol in today's society can be judged by the fact that it is known as 'black gold/liquid gold'. Most of the vehicles that we use today for transit or freight run on the vast energy of sun stored in this liquid. Petrol has changed our lives forever through the automobile revolution, and now it is silently changing our lives again through the pollution it leaves behind.

This pollution through vehicles forms one of the most biggest chunks in the pollution we face today. Increasing the prices of petrol is an effective way to counter our over-dependence on petrol and thus countering the increase in traffic and pollution. The increase in prices will directly effect the consumption of it by people due to the monetary causes involved. This will also lead to decrease in the wastage of fuel and will encourage people to use other alternatives in the market. This will further revolutionize the industries through both the sides; the automobile industry will innovate further to increase the efficiency of the vehicles in order to balance the drop in demand while there would be an increased focus to find other green alternatives for transportation.

In addition to this there are lot of other measures available to contain these growing menaces. Development of expansive and affordable mass transit systems in the major cities is a bright option which will allow many people to use one public vehicle. Thus, reducing the traffic drastically in the areas, providing people an alternative option at cheap prices and saving tons of harmful emissions. The metros and 'BRTS' are already being used in some of the major cities of the world. Another radical idea being implemented in many major European cities is to tax the core areas of the cities for some fixed key hours. This will encourage people to use the public transport and will further reduce the traffic and pollution. Many cities like London and Stockholm are using this system already with good results.

In the end, I can conclude that, there are many ways which can be followed to control the increasing pollution and traffic in our world today. But the simplicity and the prospect of no extra investment makes the idea of increasing the petrol prices makes it the best option available in these troubled times when the global economy is going through one of its biggest recessions ever. 

The Odyssey Till Now [Part-1]

I will start this from the last thoughts that I still remember. My father was in Indian Air Force, so I got the opportunity to live a different kind of life and to explore lots of places. My journey started on 1990 in 'Pathankot', a small city on the banks of River Chakki. I was born in a Military Hospital through a Cesarean. I do not remember anything of that place, but have heard a lot about it. As per the accounts of my siblings, the Air Force Station there was a very secluded place and was not known to many people. I sometimes feel lucky that I was born in Punjab, my native state. I have heard that we had a private garden there and lots of fresh fruits and vegetables used to grow there. I have forgotten the names of those now, even though I was told about them many times.

After around 18 months of my birth, my dad got transferred to 'Bagdogra', a small town in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal. The transfer took us from the comforts of our native area to an entirely new place 1800 km away. I can only imagine the pain, it would have been to shift everything to such a small town, with two small children and an annoying newborn. But my parents did it, not just once but many times, during their life. I don't know how they managed so much with such little resources in their hands. I on the other side, got frustrated with two suitcases when travelling alone from Chennai to Bangalore.

I still have some memories of Bagdogra, each one getting more faded with time. I remember my time at kindergarten there, how I used to pull the young saplings from school and run straight to home and plant those in my private garden.I remember Holi I played there, and how my sister used to save me from other bullies in the neighborhood; the military hospital which I visited so often much that staff used to worry if I didn't visited for a long time. I still have a blurred picture of our home there, with the first room containing TV; where my brother in teens then used to study and a big veranda with the kitchen and other room attached to it.I feel so nostalgic, when I recollect memories of spending the evening with my siblings there; watching 'He-Man' and having snacks; sitting on my father's scooter and playing on it with my friends, fighting with my sister for ordinary things. There are many stories of Bagdogra still to be told like the day when a python came in our kitchen, but I will keep them for some other day.

Then, suddenly when I was getting accustomed to the place and the collage in my mind started coming alive, my dad got transferred again to Delhi. This time my family was a little happy that at-least we are going nearer to our native. But relocating was again a problem that too with so much of stuff. I still remember a scene of railway station, where the train is about to depart from the station and my dad and his colleagues are trying to  fit our gigantic CRT Videocon TV in the compartment, without any luck. I am unable to remember what happened next, but I remember watching cartoons on it in Delhi. Delhi, was not as crowded in those days like it is today. I have still flashbacks, when I used to go with my dad to bring fresh milk in the evening and used to be amazed after seeing the high storied apartments of Dwarka being constructed. 

How can I forget the days, when we used to live in Palam and dad used to drop 'Didi' and me to school when the streets of Delhi were filled with knee deep water after a heavy lash of rain. We lived in rented homes for an year or two there,after which we got the government allotted quarters. These were nicely built homes and quarters. I think the area was called 'Basant Nagar', but I am not sure. I stayed in Delhi, only till 6th standard, after which we were informed that we have to pack the bags again and get transferred to 'Bikaner' - a historic city in the royal state of Rajasthan.

I stayed in 'Bikaner' till 2007 and completed the rest of my schooling there. I still remember the first day in Bikaner when we reached home in an auto-rickshaw. The whole city was looking so dull and dusty. That was my first experience of a desert. Everything was completely different - flora, fauna, buildings, even people looked different. It was like we have suddenly shifted to a barren land. The weather there was very hot and it took us few days to get accustomed. I got enrolled in the Air Force School, while my sister went to college to do B.Sc-B.Ed. If I look back now, I seem to like those days so much; that innocence of childhood was different. The way I used to perceive the world has changed completely. I miss the summer vacations, when the first thing I used to do after waking up was to switch TV and watch the cartoons. I miss that tasty food that my mother used to cook.

While I was in 12th standard, my father got transferred to 'Naliya' in Gujarat. But my mom and me stayed there in Bikaner only due to my board exams. After completing my studies, I was in dilemma of what to do with my life. Then, suddenly my dad got transferred to Ludhiana. Meanwhile, I also got enrolled in LPU for B.Tech in Computer Science.In the end only we realize that life moves on, nothing is permanent. The most fascinating thing about life, is that when we look back we always realize that those moments were better; somehow that time flew faster and we missed something. In all of this chaos, we miss the present.

That's why they say:

The clock is running. Make the most of today. Time waits for no man.
Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow is a mystery.
But Today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.

Technology: The Game Changer

Communicating with others is one of the basic human traits. In today's 21st century, technology has brought radical changes in the way, we used to interact with each other.

In earlier times, the main medium of communication was face to face and letters in case if it is not possible. But with the growth of human world, Letters and other written form of communication started becoming less effective due to the delay involved. Technology overcame this barrier with the inventions of Telephone and Internet. These two inventions brought the delay in communication to a fraction of seconds. These changes have shrunk the size of world.

These changes have changed the way not just the way we communicate, but also the way we form relationships with others. With the rise in popularity of social networks, people have got an online platform where anyone can find other people from anywhere across the world. This has opened up a lot of opportunities for people to interact with anyone, anywhere and anytime. Today, if anyone wants to make a friend with similar interests, they are just a click away. The video chat has allowed people today, to interact with each other again in a face to face manner. Today, people form relationships online and  even marry online.

These changes clearly depict the way we are changing and communicating in this globalized world. The technology has brought down the barriers and  increased our social circle to a global level by providing us the 3 As: Anywhere, Anytime and Affordability.