Birdseed for the pigeons

I just returned from our long trip to Mumbai, India. This time my daughter thoroughly enjoyed the visits to a local duck pond where we could for a small amount take a ride in a small paddle boat and feed the ducks in the pond. The ducks were extremely used to people doing this everyday and did not shy away at all. They were scary. I thought so anyway. My daughter had the best time each visit. Unfortunately we could not bring bread from home. It had to be bought from the ticket office. And even more unfortunately it was dispensed in these little plastic baggies that were thrown away later. Depending on which grandparent was accomapanying Sara and how badly she wanted to feed the ducks, we bought anywhere from 4-8 bags of bread pieces. The fish consumed the bread as well. Much to my surprise. And they were ferocious, not giving the slightest chance to the slow turtles in the water.

Some days we fed the cows with a bunch of grass or grain laddoos made by the person who owned the cow. It is quite amazing how much a child learns from observation. Sara can imitate how a cow eats grass extremely well. She learnt about color and how to interact with various animals and birds due to this encounter. She also made it a point to ask for a boiled egg each day and eat the white of it while keeping the yellow for the crow that paid us a visit each morning.

Then she frequented the bird seed guy who sat outside a Jain temple and sold measures of birdseed for the looming flock of grey, white and mixed pigeons and some sparrows. This was given in a plastic bowl that you were to return to the vendor once you were done feeding the birds. This group seemed to again behave like the entitled lot. They barely twitched when people approached them. And knew the feed was for them.

My memories of feeding the pigeons are of throwing exactly a fistful of bajra (pearl millet) to an anxious group of pigeons on our terrace each morning. This was packed in a piece of reused paper that my grandmother again recycled each day. I remember so distinctly the little cabinet in the kitchen which had the jar of the bajra (pearl millet) and pieces of folded paper. She also cut out and cleaned the plastic bags that milk was delivered in each day. So if she needed to send something that needed a plastic bag, she had those ready.

Then it seemed like such a bother that she carefully gathered all plastic and keep what could have been used. Now it makes sense.

Flashback...thanks to Doyaaa

I became a statistic yesterday when my daughter saw Dora packaged yoghurt cups in the dairy aisle and wanted to get them. She hasn't been a very good/ willing eater most times so I succumbed without the usual distract and disappear tactics. She got home and willingly ate most of the yogurt and I kept eying the pro-biotic, low sugar and extremely tasty option that I stock up for her. Made me realize how I wanted her to eat what I thought was good for her. And how the media has succeeded in making her consume with the help of a cartoon character.

Growing up I didn't have a picture of Dora on my yogurt nor the cow from the organic pro-biotic yogurt. There was no cup for that matter. Just yogurt made at home in a ceramic pot that would be served on my plate to be enjoyed with rice, sugar, salt or just plain.

I remember my mother, grandmothers and aunts setting the yogurt at night to be ready for the family the next morning. I especially remember how my grandmother said you always need to stir the existing yogurt into the milk exactly 25 times and then cover it and let it sit overnight.

Currently, I have been working with my web design class on a website for global warming and sustainability. There are varying opinions and arguments each day about what is right and what is not. I have an enthusiastic group that does not shy of opinions. Bottled water or tap water, consumption, waste, ignorance, status, well...that's what my mother used to do when we were little....and many more emotions get a chance to talk during class critiques. I soon realized that if you didn't grow up with knowing that life can be lived any differently, you wouldn't know better. Your ideas of life in general and recycling specifically would be very different.

I hope this blog gathers varying viewpoints. Where we can see how each of us grew up with certain ideas. And in retrospect, what did that lifestyle teach us or not about sustainability and recycling.