Wish you a Happy and Peaceful New Year!

"I give you this to take with you: Nothing remains as it was. If you know this, you can  begin again, with pure joy in the uprooting." 

— Judith Minty (Letters to My Daughters)

Guess who lives here?

From our garden

Earthen Lantern in the garden

Baby Koi peeking, new addition to our Koi Family

The Sun kissing these lovely flowers

Thich Nhat Hanh

Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step

If in our daily lives we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. If we really know how to live, what better way to start the day than with a smile? Our smile affirms our awareness and determination to live in peace and joy. The source of a true smile is an awakened mind.

I find that people here don't smile often or enough. Most seem preoccupied with their worries or thoughts. No one seems to be here and now. Everyone is someplace far away. Why is it so hard to be in the present moment? (and this question comes from someone whose brain is multi-tasking, processing a zillion thoughts and ideas at this particular moment..lol..) :-)

I love the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh. 

Smile and live in peace and joy ! :) 

Abandoned Puppy

Found a little female puppy abandoned nearby. What kind of wicked people can leave a pup to die on the street? Human cruelty - when will it ever end? My brother said,'' people can do this to little children so don't fret, this is just a dog''. She couldn't even drink milk from a bowl.....was so hungry when we finally managed to feed it.

Good news - we have found her a new home! :) My brother and sis-in-law ran around to animal shelter and to a pup adoption center since we found her this morning. Luckily one of his work mates wanted to adopt a puppy and was looking for a pup! The little abandoned puppy has found a good home! In this short time this little beauty also got a name - Leona! (psssstt...named after Leona Lewis)

Leona (on the right)  in her new home with her new sister Rugbee

So to this idiot who threw this few months old puppy (brown/black) @ some road in viman nagar on 12/12/10 morning - she is going to be with better human beings than you - lucky her! 

India Microcredit Faces Collapse From Defaults - NY Times Article

From the article:

Microfinance in pursuit of profits has led some microcredit companies around the world to extend loans to poor villagers at exorbitant interest rates and without enough regard for their ability to repay. Some companies have more than doubled their revenues annually.
Now some Indian officials fear that microfinance could become India’s version of the United States’ sub-prime mortgage debacle, in which the seemingly noble idea of extending home ownership to low-income households threatened to collapse the global banking system because of a reckless, grow-at-any-cost strategy.

Butterflies

Strong winds in Summer used to blow in the afternoons and bring with it bunch of dead butterflies. Butterflies of different colors and shapes. Little, poor, dead butterflies. My brother and I had a solution for this mass of dead bodies. We used to pick up each butterfly and bury it in a tiny grave that we would create for them. Burial was a solemn process. 

First dig a tiny pit a few inches wide, layer it with salt (I don't remember why we did that , may be someone told us to ..there must have been an important reason but i can't remember now), then layer it with tiny flowers, lay the dead butterfly in this grave, cover the grave with mud and put more flowers on it and finally stick a cross on the grave (we are Hindus so I am not sure why we put a cross on the graves, I think that idea must have come from some movies we had seen, also no one objected to this burial ritual except our gardener who used to pick out such graves and clear up the garden for the flower beds  amidst huge protests from me and my brother ) ,  shut eyes for a few seconds and pray that the soul of the dead butterfly rests in peace. 

I remember having a 'serious' conversation with my mother on why we should be allowed to continue sending these poor souls to heaven in this way and why we can't let them lie unattended here and there in the garden. Finally, as a result of this discussion we were given a part of the garden as a cemetery. We could create as many graves as we wanted and send as many dead butterflies to heaven as we wanted!

I remember feeling deep sadness and also a sense of responsibility while caring for these poor, battered, dead butterflies. As a child the sorrow of seeing a dead butterfly was huge and then the task of burial was even more heart wrenching. I remember seeing cocoons in the garden and waiting for the butterflies to emerge. 

Life is so ephemeral , precious and that lesson came to us from our parents - who let us observe and be part of the nature and open our hearts to all life forms.    

One Art - Elizabeth Bishop

The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster,

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three beloved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.

-- Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) a disaster. 

A beautiful poem about the art of losing. Have you ever thought of losing in this way - taking the grief to a level of art? I think she is telling us it is hard and very hard when you lose family,  friend or a lover or someone really close to you. I like it when she says 'the art of losing's not too hard' in the last part of the poem.....ha! Caught you!! - It is indeed VERY hard to master this art. 

A lovely poem about loss and trying to come to terms with it.

The Social Network - Movie Review

I saw 'The Social Network' recently. I liked it. I give it a 6 out of 10. It would be interesting for the people from the IT industry who have been following the growth of Facebook. This movie is the story of Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook (Did you know it was known as 'TheFacebook' when it was launched?). Aaron Sorkin adapted his screenplay from Ben Mezrich's 2009 nonfiction book The Accidental Billionaires. 

 Jesse Eisenberg does justice to his role as Mark. I enjoyed every second of this movie. It is fast paced and pretty much takes you through the history of creation of Facebook and life of Mark Zuckerberg - the youngest billionaire. What is interesting is it also leaves you with a lot of questions. To those of you who think it might be a movie about Mark as a 'hero' - let me just tell you this - it is not. The movie takes you through his early Harvard days, the ups and downs in his personal life and ofcourse all those law suits. Andrew Garfield as Eduardo is awesome. And how can I forget Justin Timberlake!! He looks good as always! Except I wasn't really impressed with his acting skills. Long way to go yet Justin :-) The last scene of the movie is nice. Many people I know who have seen this movie found it strange or abrupt end, but I loved it. If you have seen it then let us discuss why.

I found it to be an interesting and fun movie. Do check it out!

War

What Difference Does It Make to the Dead,
the Orphans, and the Homeless,
Whether the Mad Destruction Is Wrought
under the Name of Totalitarianism
or the Holy Name of Liberty and Democracy?

- Mahatma Gandhi

Cafe Fernando

Double Chocolate Bundt Cake

I came across Cenk's (Jenk) blog a few months ago. He is (in his own words) - "a food blogger, novice photographer, seasoned home baker and a shameless chocoholic from İstanbul, Turkey."  I have found some lovely recipes from his blog and also learnt few nice tips about cooking. A lovely food blog - I highly recommend it to all food lovers and baking aficionados.

The Zoya Factor - Book Review

The Zoya Factor by Anuja Chauhan


It is one of the most boring books that I have read so far. What a waste of my time! It is about a rajput girl named Zoya Singh Solanki, who meets the Indian Cricket Team through her job as an executive in an advertising agency and ends up becoming a lucky charm for the team for the Cricket World Cup 2010 (Wiki).

Cricket - are we all really that obsessed with cricket?? It is hard to believe this book is listed amongst top 5 in many Indian newspaper (who makes all those rating anyway!). Here's what Times of India (found on Wiki) has to say , "it is a fun read which takes the Indian chick-lit way beyond mush and smut, right to freakily naughty. Her writing is very funny, very now and very funny. Her themes of cricket, love and politics are smartly topical." I laughed when I read that. Zoya factor is a run of the mill M&B book. Madam Anuja Chauhan please - try some other topics -- as it is, we do get our good and daily dose of cricket from all channels here.

The last book that I found so boring was The White Tiger. Phew!


View all my reviews

Use It or Lose It: Dancing Makes You Smarter

Now here is more research to support the fact that dancing is really good for health and not only that, it can also make us smarter ;-) Ok! So that's not me saying all that to support and propagate dancing :-) na, na....It is really the good old science telling us with facts and figures. Check out this awesome article

From the article:

The 21-year study of senior citizens, 75 and older, was led by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, funded by the National Institute on Aging, and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.  Their method for objectively measuring mental acuity in aging was to monitor rates of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease.

The study wanted to see if any physical or cognitive recreational activities influenced mental acuity.  They discovered that some activities had a significant beneficial effect.  Other activities had none.

They studied cognitive activities such as reading books, writing for pleasure, doing crossword puzzles, playing cards and playing musical instruments.  And they studied physical activities like playing tennis or golf, swimming, bicycling, dancing, walking for exercise and doing housework.

One of the surprises of the study was that almost none of the physical activities appeared to offer any protection against dementia.  There can be cardiovascular benefits of course, but the focus of this study was the mind.  There was one important exception:  the only physical activity to offer protection against dementia was frequent dancing.

            Reading - 35% reduced risk of dementia

            Bicycling and swimming - 0%

People who played the hardest gained the most:  For example, seniors who did crossword puzzles four days a week had a 47% lower risk of dementia than those who did the puzzles once a week.

            Playing golf - 0%

            Dancing frequently - 76%. 
 
That was the greatest risk reduction of any activity studied, cognitive or physical.

Quoting Dr. Joseph Coyle, a Harvard Medical School psychiatrist who wrote an accompanying commentary:
"The cerebral cortex and hippocampus, which are critical to these activities, are remarkably plastic, and they rewire themselves based upon their use."

And from from the study itself, Dr. Katzman proposed these persons are more resistant to the effects of dementia as a result of having greater cognitive reserve and increased complexity of neuronal synapses.  Like education, participation in some leisure activities lowers the risk of dementia by improving cognitive reserve.

Our brain constantly rewires its neural pathways, as needed.  If it doesn't need to, then it won't. 

A Girl, a Boy, and a Graveyard - Jeremy Messersmith- The Reluctant Graveyard (2010)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2XdgMFffZU

A song I stumbled upon today. :)

Singapore Vacation Oct 2010 pictures

Lanterns in Chinatown, Singapore

Little birdie with a missing toe..she came so close to me :)

Expectations

"How wrong is it for a woman to expect man to build the

world she wants, rather than set out to create it herself."

~~ Anais Nin

Difference

‘I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverge in a wood, and I

Took the one less travelled by,

And that has made all the difference.’

~~ Robert Frost

Every person who wants to do something different with their life will face some or the other difficulties. What decides your success is how you handled those difficulties. Did the obstacles make you lose heart or did they make you more determined? I have always looked at life as full of possibilities. Even as a child I wanted to do so many different things. I never worried if others my age where doing it or not. I didn't want to blend into the crowd, i still don't. I believe life is about continuously changing. It is not about finding a perfect state and sticking there till the end. That is like being dead. Life is about living with compassion, joy, taking risking, losing, getting hurt and  getting up back on your feet. Life is to live with reverence for all other beings, big or small, around you.

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Tuesdays with Morrie is a lovely story of life's greatest lessons. I have read this book many times and still go back to it . I believe that there is immense wisdom hidden in every page of this book.  This is a simple , heart touching story.

From the book:

So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they’re busy doing things they think are important. This is because they’re chasing the wrong things.

The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.

Teacher

 

'Imagine that every person in the world is enlightened but you. They are all your teachers, each doing just the right things to help you learn perfect patience, perfect wisdom, perfect compassion.'

~~JACK KORNFIELD

Consciousness: One of the last great mysteries of life

Interesting article in Guardian UK about consciousness. Alok Jha introduces a lecture by Christof Koch of the California Institute of Technology on how the brain creates the sensation of consciousness.

In the video, Christof Koch, a professor of biology and engineering at the California Institute of Technology, introduces the neurological basics upon which scientists hope to build our future study of consciousness. Are bees conscious? Can you replicate consciousness in a machine? Are you sure that you're conscious of most of the things your brain is up to?

A.J. Jacobs' year of living biblically

Interesting talk by A J Jacobs . He tried to live life for a year biblically -- following the rules in the Bible as literally as possible.  Listen to his experience and ideas!

Lost

Have you ever given a book to someone and never got it back from them? How did it feel ? 

 

I have lost many books to many friends over the past several years. I love reading books and also like sharing them with anyone I know that likes reading. So many times my friends forget to return my book. Sometimes they go away to other places and take my book away with them , sometimes they are here and don't remember that they took my book and worst case they really lost it!

I have tiny list in which I maintain the names of the books and the borrowers. In case I don't get back a book after many , many months. I write it off as a 'Gift' to that friend.  :-) I feel a bit sad if it happens to be a book that I really liked.

I don't like books stagnating on my home library shelves. Books are meant to be read and if it means I lose few books while I lend them around, I am Ok with that. I just hope people who take those books away read them or at least share them with someone, somewhere.  I think I am a chronic 'book lender' and minor setbacks don't hold me back. I love reading and sharing the joy of reading. 

Books are fun and there is so much knowledge hidden in so many books around the world. If only I knew more languages, I could have read more books from authors from other countries too in the original languages instead of their English translations.  

Integrity

"With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity."

~~Keshavan Nair

Leisure

One of my favourite poems from childhood. I recited this poem once in a competition in our school. I didn't win but I can still remember how happy I felt when I was reciting this poem to a room filled with teachers and students.

W. H. Davies

Leisure

WHAT is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?—

No time to stand beneath the boughs,
And stare as long as sheep and cows:

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night:

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance:

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began?

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

Lasooni Methi

In the link above your will find an awesome recipe for Lasooni Methi from Madhuli's blog. I tried it with the exact same measures and it was yummy. So go ahead and give it a try.

For those who can't open the link I am pasting the recipe as it is from that blog:

 1 bunch Methi (fenugreek) cleaned, washed and chopped. (Add the tender stalks if you like)
2 large onions chopped
10-12 garlic cloves peeled and chopped
~ 2tbsp tomato puree
½ tsp Garam Masala
½-1 tsp Red chilli powder
¼ tsp sugar (or just a pinch)
½ tsp Cumin seeds
Salt to taste
~5-6 tsp Oil for the
1 tsp Ghee(clarified butter/optional)
Blanch the Methi leaves for ~ 4-5 minutes in as little water as possible along with some salt. Drain and keep aside. Don’t discard the water; it can be used for making rasam or soups.
Heat 1 tsp oil in a wok/ pan. Add ~ 2-3 chopped garlic cloves  and sauté till the onion turns a light brown color.
Cool and grind in a blender to a smooth paste (add 1-2 tsp water if required)
(to save time:alternatively you can directly grind the onion and garlic in the blender to a fine paste without first sautéing and then fry it in oil)
Heat 2-3 tsp oil +1 tsp ghee in the same wok. Add cumin seeds and add the onion paste. Fry well till the paste turns brown (~ 7-8 minutes)
Add the spice; red chilli powder, garam masala, turmeric powder and fry for 1 minute more.
Add the tomato puree. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
Add the blanched methi leaves.
Mix well. Add salt and pinch of sugar and mix again.
Add ~3/4^th cup water and cook for 2 minutes more or till gravy turns to a slightly thick consistency.
Remove from stove top.
In a small pan heat remaining oil. Add the remaining chopped garlic and fry till light brown. (If you like spicy food you can add chopped green chillies to the oil too)
Add the fried garlic along with the oil to the Methi gravy.
Serve hot with Naan or Tandoori Roti.


Note 1: This recipe demands a generous amount of oil for the tadka and tempering compared to my usual 2 tsp oil; but once in a while I don’t mind pleasing the palate . You can reduce the amount of oil used.
Note 2: For a rich gravy you can also add 2-3 cashenuts to the onions and then grind.

Magnificient

Moonlight

The evening was lonely for me, and I was reading a book till my heart became dry, and it seemed to me that beauty was a thing fashioned by the traders in words. Tired I shut the book and snuffed the candle. In a moment the room was flooded with moonlight.

Spirit of Beauty, how could you, whose radiance overbrims the sky, stand hidden behind a candle's tiny flame? How could a few vain words from a book rise like a mist, and veil her whose voice has hushed the heart of earth into ineffable calm?

~Rabindranath Tagore

The Foreign Hand by Subroto Bagchi

An interesting article about the "The Foreign Hand". Indians would be able to catch this term easily as we as a nation have got accustomed to hearing about 'the Foreign Hand'. But it looks like countries like America are also picking up on it now!

From the article:

 The quantum of government contracts that comes to Indian IT companies is a fraction of the nearly $57 billion of export business we do all over the world. So, whether Ohio or some other US state bans outsourcing, there would be miniscule impact on Indian companies. But, on the other hand, the rhetoric could mislead the American people and create a “whipping boy” mentality that blames the Indian IT industry that has become synonymous with the term “outsourcing.” In addition to making outsourcing feel “unpatriotic,” it could create fear in the in the minds of the American private sector. What is extremely disconcerting is the fact that any opinion coming from the US President becomes the overall sentiment, the official line on any subject. That alone is bound to affect the US law enforcement and border agencies. We are beginning to see isolated, though serious acts of unfriendliness. Unchecked, such posturing can hurt the complex supply chain process in which bits and bytes that travel by ether need a substantial free-flow of human beings between the two countries. So far, the industry has acted with restraint in the face of US utterances but continued silence could signal servility. Hence, a few key issues need to be raised by us ahead of the US President’s proposed visit to India later this year.

Attitude

Everything can be taken from a man or a woman but one thing: the last of human freedoms to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.

~~Viktor E. Frankl

Man's Search for Meaning

Have you read Man's search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl?


With more than 4 million copies in print in the English language alone, Man's Search for Meaning, the chilling yet inspirational story of Viktor Frankl's struggle to hold on to hope during his three years as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps, is a must read.

African quote

Every morning in Africa, a Gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a Lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest Gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a Lion or a Gazelle... when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.

Lessons from my Life

I have been thinking for a long time that I should write about things which have helped me in my life. There are different things I learnt as I grew up as everyone else does in their life. I want to share the good stuff from my life and I hope that it helps someone out there who is young or just needs to know.

Talk about compliments :

Ha~ Ok so I am going to give a lecture on compliments. I feel people don't compliment each other enough. I don't know why. Maybe sometime we want to say something nice to someone and then decide not to say it as we think that person may take it in the wrong way. Or we feel that it's not such a big deal, we will say it some other day. I think this is sad. We have such a short life! If we want to say something nice to someone - just say it. If a good word brings a smile on someone's face then why lose that opportunity to bring that smile? Why are we so stingy? Why we think so much?? lol. ..

I used to be very shy so even when I wanted to compliment someone, I didn't say it. Especially I was shy to talk with men. My shyness was such a terrible thing for me. All I could do was just smile! lol...and my cheeks would go all red! Phew..stupid me.....I couldn't make me open my lips to say those good words!! But gradually I have changed. I speak freely with people now and yes, I compliment people when I really think they have done something nice or they deserve to hear something nice. The thought that goes on in my mind is there is so much sadness in this world. So we should never let go any single chance( even a little one like complimenting someone) to make someone happy or to spread the joy ~~

A few months ago I was at a nice restaurant with some friends. We had a lovely lunch. Then they gave us a form to fill - the feedback form - the chef was around - curious to know what we thought about the food. To be honest, it was really nice food, awesome taste. I wrote all that in the form and returned it. And a few mintues later the chef and the manager came running to our table. I was thinking - oh my what did I write?? :) The manager asked me - you have written such good things about our food and restaurant, thank you so much but in the rating section you have rated us only as Good and not Excellent - was there something wrong or something that you didn't like which made you mark us as Good? I said , 'Oh , that!' Giving them the nicest smile I know , I said , actually my mom is the only Excellent cook I know - for the rest of the world I would only say Good ;-) hehe....They both laughed heartily and so did everyone else at the table! :-) Moral of the story - be honest with compliments. Don't say it ,if you don't mean it. ;))

I like to compliment people. I like to smile. :) It makes me feel good and makes my life beautiful. I know there are lots of rotten apples out there - greedy, grumpy or wicked people - we can't be cold because of that as there are many good people too out there. We are not going to take our thoughts to the grave ;) hehe... so might as well share it with others around as long as they are good thoughts.. :)))))

Smiles and Joy to you ~~

:)

Never give up!!

Ajahn Sumedho Teachings

Life is Like This

These are the things we can contemplate. We can’t control what arises in the mind, but we can reflect on what we are feeling and learn from it rather than simply being caught helplessly in our impulses and habits. Even though there is a lot in life that we can’t change, we can change our attitude towards it. That’s what so much of meditation is really about—changing our attitude from a self-centered, “get rid of this or get more of that” to one of welcoming life as it is. Welcoming the opportunity to eat food that we don’t like. Welcoming wearing three robes on a hot morning. Welcoming discomfort, feeling fed up, wanting to run away. This way of welcoming life reflects a deeper understanding. Life is like this. Sometimes it’s very nice, sometimes it’s horrible, and much of the time it’s neither one way nor the other. Life is like this.
~~ Ajahn Sumedho


Reflecting on different situation has helped me a lot in calming myself and taking the proper steps...not rushing away with emotions. I like Ajahn Sumedho's teaching as he makes it so easy for any one to understand life and living. Hard lessons made easy to understand with simple stories , jokes and his amazing child like laughter. 

Courage

Two rabbis are trying by every possible means to bring spiritual comfort to Jews in Nazi Germany. For a whole year, though scared to death, they deceive the Gestapo (the secret police) and perform religious ceremonies in various communities.

They are finally arrested. One of them, terrified at what could happen from then on, does not stop praying. The other spends the whole day sleeping.

“Why do you sleep?” asks the fearful rabbi. “Aren’t you afraid? Don’t you realize what can happen to us?”

“I was afraid up to the moment we were arrested. Now that I’m imprisoned, what good does it do to be afraid? The time for fear is over; now it’s time for courage to face our fate.”




Ps: I wonder, is fate really there? It is sealed? We can't change it? humm..then maybe we should do nothing and let fate take us where it is going to take us anyway? ...Wrong way to look at it !?!?

I understand fear....I think i understand courage too....I don't understand fate.

Oscar Wilde

“Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.”

~~Oscar Wilde quotes (Irish Poet, Novelist, Dramatist and Critic, 1854-1900)


Words to remember!

Life and Love

"Let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.

Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together, yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow."

~~Kahlil Gibran

Fruit Tree Plantations

As a child I used to love sitting under the shade of Mango trees in our garden and looking at the clear blue skies munching raw mangoes. This is a joy that very few of children born in cities get to enjoy today. I love trees and I love fruit trees even more. 

The IT industry in Pune (and also India) has generally modeled their buildings and its landscape after their American counterparts. Most Indian IT Office Buildings have glass facade. These are surrounded by well manicured lawns with flowering plants and shrubs. 

Do you find it beautiful to look at such building and their well maintained gardens? I find this sad. I am not an expert on architecture or design and hope some of you out there will chip in to this blog with your knowledge and understanding about these buildings architecture and landscapping. But I feel sad about these lifeless buildings and there are many reasons for that. 

A few I list out here:

1.    The lawns need a large amount of water for their maintenance.

2.    The shrubs and tiny trees are not useful for birds for building their nest

3.    There is no shade from trees

4.    It all looks aesthetically nice but is not useful for humans or animals

5.    The Landscape does not have a cooling effect on the building

I want us to rethink about landscape around our office building. Why can’t we change it for something better and useful for us and our society? 

I have been thinking about it for a long time and feel that one of the solutions could be that we plant fruit trees all around our office building.

Advantages could be :

·         Improving the environment and combating global warming through the known benefits trees

have for the air, soil, and water

·         Helping animals by providing habitat, shade, shelter, and nutrition

· E  mpowering volunteers to take action for their environment and in their own lives

·          Enriching communities by creating beautiful, healthy landscapes that benefit overall well-being

·        Alleviating hunger and improving health by providing essential human nutrition from fruits, the IT companies can donate the fruits to orphanages and needy shelters. 

     What do you think? Are there any IT companies you know which do something like this?