Beautiful Delhi Flora

I was recently in the capital to attend a conference on the value-based management practices inspired from India's spiritual heritage.  I came to the city with a certain apprehension based on the many media stories surrounding the recent attacks on women as well as a sense of shame from its leaders who are not able to take a firm stance in the face of these most horrific events.  Delhi, a city of rapist, Delhi a city of misogynist, Delhi capital of all that is shameful and ugly in the Indian man.  So it was with a pleasant and refreshing outlook that I discovered a city that is much more than what the recent media has painted it to be.  From its most efficient and luxurious metro service, to its colourful fauna and its love of arts, I found Delhi to be a grand old-lady that is striving to rejuvenate itself.

Yesteryear Ambassador parked on the road side.

My first encounters with Delhi in the mid-2000s was one of heritage of a glorious past with beautiful architecture, spacious roads and a love of antique monuments preserved neatly behind manicured lawns.  The Delhi I found today inspired in me an image of an island in north India aspiring to modernity under attack from forces of obscurantism that try to stop her relentless march forward.  Taking the world-class metro service on a daily basis to attend the my conference in Delhi University, I was surprised by the beauty of Delhi women and their sense of dressing.  Being a Frenchman and having worked and travelled in countless European capitals, I have come to appreciate the sense of dressing that Parisian woman display, often regarded as epitomising women beauty in Europe.  I can say that Delhi women have nothing to envy to their Parisian counterparts.  Their sense of dressing at times took my breath away, simple, elegant and detailed down to the shoes and accessories, yet not loud.  Sri Aurobindo, a great Indian seer, talks of the importance of looking after our bodies, of dressing it with care, for he champions the idea that the body is a living temple of the Divine.  Delhi women are beautiful temples.

I Touch a face and it murders me

Of course, one may argue that my perception is a skewed selection effect of the metro's flora, and no I am not mistaking with the fauna, I mean the flora, for surely Delhi should treat its women like an ardent garndener, with love and tenderness. What would be mankind without the love of women. 

On my last day, the conference ending early, I whiled my spare time with a visit to the Delhi Art Galley in Haus Kaas, coming across one of its artist on display, Amitava, I was startled by a canvas painted back in 1989 which expressed with distinct clarity the essence of the feeling of violence that Delhi inflicts on its women.  The painting was titled "I Touch A Face And Suddenly It Murders Me".

Artist are no different to scientist, they too seek to describe the world, only the language differs.

Leaving Delhi to return to my south Indian home, I reaslised that the changes Delhi is going through, its modernisation, love of art and heritage, and an aspiration by its women to be beautiful can only reflect a deeper sub-conscious and latent aspiration of a city striving to sustain its glorious past while embracing the future.  It will take time for the men to learn to respect and love the contribution of woman to this world, but it is ironic that behind such shameful and careless men lie a mother that has spoilt her male-child, and so it is important that women too take responsibility and change the way men are brought up in our society.

People actually queue in the crowded metro stations, a first in India!

It is surprising the number of peddle rickshaws that ply the small streets of the older city

An other pleasant surprise is the introduction of electric shared autos

Always a lemon juice vendor on the crowsded street corners

A look at life

An interesting little post celebrating Calvin & Hobbes.

Bill Watterson retired from writing and drawing "Calvin & Hobbes" about 18 years ago, but the timelessness of his message -- to always remain thoughtful, imaginative, and playful -- will stick in our culture forever, if we're lucky. Case in point: Cartoonist Gavin Aung Than, who pens comics on his blog Zen Pencils, created this tribute to Watterson that has struck a chord with the Internet over the last few days.

I think the cartoon speaks for itself, and an inspiration for all of us seeking to make a positive contribution to the world we live in.

The Farce of GM Food Economics

We live in a bizarre world, where those out to make a quick profit on the back of dying farmers sponsor global prizes that they award to themselves in the hope of what?  Pacifying their conscience? Eye-washing the consumer society?

Monsanto, Syngenta (better known for the neonicotinoid insecticides responsible behind the recent drop in bee population worldwide) and other GM seed companies has been awarded the World Food Prize for their contribution in feeding the world!  What a joke!

The news coming out form independent research is being stifled in order to protect these companies commercial interest.  World wide, the Bt gene introduced in a variety of crops (in India: Bt bringal, Bt tomato, Bt corn, Bt cotton) is giving rise to an evolution in insects resistant to the gene, effectively creating a time-bomb waiting to explode.  The frightening face of GM crops is that it was created to resist herbicides, allowing farmers to use stronger more potent herbicides that the crop could resist and other herbs killed off.  Use of herbicides have increased compared to non-GM crops, and these have been harsher and more poisonous.  The use of GM crop has had the effect of increasing the pollution in the land and waterways.

The rise of resistance to Bt genes among insects means that farmers will now revert to using chemical insecticides, and since our legislators and politicians have handed over the control of our agriculture to these GM companies, traditional seeds have been removed from the market in order to monopolise it.  We are left with an agriculture that is immensely worse off than 2o years ago.

What a miracle!  And these geniuses have the audacity to sponsor the World Food Prize in order to award it to themselves. 

The art of Green-(eye)-washing

Is Nike a green brand, or Nestle, or even Coca-Col, or for that matter Shell (an oil company)??? One wouldn't really think so a priori.Yet, according to highly mediatised report by Interbrand, these are among the top 50 greenest brands in the world, or so they would like you to believe.

A new report by brand value management company Interbrand, a US based Media company that compiles reports on global companies.  The report, titled Best Global Green Brands 2013, has been conveniently marketed in world Media as the greenest brands in the world (see sample articles, here, here and here.

The methodology used in the above report is a little thin on details, although it contains the right vocabulary.  However, like all statistical analysis, much and anything can be conveyed and obtained from statistics, it all depends on how objective one is.  So without knowing who is sponsoring this report, it is difficult to evaluate its authenticity.  If you look at the clients of Interbrand (the company behind the report) many of them are global multinationals.

Another interesting aspect of this report is that it has only been applied to the top 100 global brands (selected in terms of brand value, economic profit, brand strength and role of brand) in other words we are talking about the most valued companies.  Top 50 Greenest brands are not the most sustainable brands, but rather the most sustainable of the most economically successful brands).

The nominees are drawn from Interbrand’s annual Best Global Brands report, which ranks the world’s 100 most valuable brands. (Quote from Interbrand report methodology.)

This finer point is conveniently left out of their Media report, letting consumers believe these are the greenest brands in the world.  So yet again, a lovely marketing eye wash that lets me believe that this report has been financed by top global brands as yet another exercise in Green-(eye)-washing.

The Green People of India

A new movement has been launched in India to bring together eco-companies that strive for a more sustainable choice in our lifestyle for our society.  The Green People of India (TGPI) has launched a preliminary site, www.thegreenpeople.in, that will eventually serve the purpose of informing and empowering Indian consumers on their choices for a more eco-friendly and sustainable future, but also as a platform for exchange and communication between eco-companies in India.

The Green Festival

 TGPI has succefully completed its first green festival held in Mumbai from the 7th to 9th June.  as you can see from the photos and videos below it was a lot of fun.
We had the support of actors Kalki and Gulshan or Shaitan fame.

It was green and it was fun with impromptu jamming sessions from Mouth Harp maestro Nepture Chapotin.

With lots of stalls and very interesting products on display from clothes, to food to cosmetics and other household items.

Sustainable Growth for the Enterprise

At Syllogic we explore ways in which sustainable growth can be achieved in business, in an integral and inclusive way.  Here is the latest on this research.

3rd Generation High Speed Train is most efficient

Promised to revolutionise public transport in France, the TGV trains developed by national train carrier SNCF in collaboration with Alstom in 1981 delivered just that.

Today, the 3rd generation, the AGV (the name change is fundamentally linked to its revolutionary technology), allows for an even more efficient mode of transport.  Operating at speeds of 350 km/hr and linking various Italian cities, the AGV has got rid of its engines, each wheel now having its own motor and therefore allowing the entire train to be used for carrying passenger. 

 
Furthermore, the train can now be configured to take up 300 to 600 passengers by changing the number of rail cars attached together.  There is plan to enable an even longer train with a capacity of 1200 passengers.

The train boast an incredible 2.2 gr of CO2 per passenger/km, a record when compared to other modes of transport.  This is due in part to the special brakes on the train that recuperates the energy and puts it back on the electric grid.

Much research has gone into the aero-acoustic properties of the design to allow for a much quieter and comfortable journey.  An interesting fact is that a train that travels at 330 km/h creates twice as much noise as one travelling at 300 km/h.  The design elements of the train has allowed it to travel at 360km/h while preserving acoustic properties of trains travelling at 300km/h.

Already in operation in Italy, AGV will be introduced in France in 2014.