Ripples In A Teacup

 Folks, "College Days" a short story I wrote at the height of Covid (those dark times) has now been published on Spillwords . Here's the link .  I hope such a dystopian vision never becomes a reality! 

Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine, I had harboured a faint hope that patriotic Russian army officers would raise up against Putin and call off the Ukraine War. Unfortunately, yesterday’s insurrection was started by the Wagner Chieftain, a man much more evil than Putin, and after some mutual posturing, both parties have pulled back. Thanks to a deal brokered by Putin’sally Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko , Putin is now free to continue his fight against Ukraine. However, he no longer has Wagner at his beck and call and the Ukrainians are now on the offensive, which is apparently going slowly . What next? As long as Putin is able to sell his oil at any price , he can continue his war. However, if Ukraine gives him a face-saving exit, he may give up. I’m sure Putin wants to rest and regain his strength. However, I am assuming Putin is in his normal senses and will think and act like a normal human being, which he isn’t. Yesterday, I thought I saw an end in sight for the Uk...

  Wildfires and summer go hand in hand in certain parts of the world. However, the wildfires in Canada have got me especially worried. Climate change has affected Canada just like other parts of the world, but it looks like Canada is warming up faster than the rest of the world . Thousand of people across Canada are being evacuated and we are being warned that these blazes could last "all summer." Nearly 17,800 square miles have burned since the beginning of 2023. These f orest fires have sent a smoky haze billowing over a large swath of the United States. What’s to be done??? What scares me the most is that there are still apparently sane folks out there asking for proof that these wildfires are fueled by climate change !

Lucky me, May 8 is a holiday in France to mark Victory Day, the day on which the Allies formally accepted Nazi Germany's surrender in 1945, consequently ending World War II in Europe. Accent Francais , where I am doing an intensive French course, took us students to Nîmes by coach and I had a lovely time. Nîmes, pronounced in French as “Neem” with a very short à at the end, is around 60 kilometers north-east of Montpellier, where I am based. Nîmes used to be an important European city during the time of the Roman Empire and has a number of buildings that look Roman. Nîmes is even referred to as the "French Rome". As usual, I took a few snaps and treated myself to an ice cream!

Last Saturday, I once again rented a bicycle for the day and cycled to La Grande Motte, approximately around 22 kilometres from Montpellier.  The cycling track from Montpellier to La Grande-Motte has two tracks, one asphalt/tar and the other mud, except in certain sections where it is only mud.  I largely stuck with the asphalt path. La Grande-Motte is a smallish town by the sea. It’s a port as well and I read somewhere on the internet that it was built in the 1960s and 1970s.  La Grande-Motte is known for its architecture with a number of prominent buildings shaped like pyramids.  However, I didn’t spend much time admiring the architecture, instead, I relaxed on the beach. Here are a few more snaps from  La Grande-Motte.

There’s so much talk of green and clean energy, one gets the feeling that there is no harm in harnessing the sun and wind and tidal waves to generate electricity and run more cars and planes and ships and spaceships. No! People, we need to consume less as a whole. Even if we have solar-powered electric saws, we should not cut down trees unnecessarily. Sitting in Montpellier, which seems uninhabited by Indian standards, it is easy to not panic or worry about over-consumption. There is a lot less pollution than in India and roads are generally deserted (by Indian standards). However, we DO KNOW that climate change is for real. Sea levels are rising and seasons and climatic patterns have gone for a toss. We need to panic! Reduction of consumption has to be both per capita as well as gross. Gross reduction can be achieved only if we reduce the world’s population. India has already overtaken China as the world’s most populous country. Many countries are worried about the reduction in th...

  I’m in Montpellier, Southern France, for a month, to attend an intensive French language immersion course at the Accent Francais . I have classes five days a week, 3:15 hours a day on Mondays and Fridays and 4:45 hours on Tuesday, Wednesdays and Thursdays. I stay with a landlady who speaks only French. Weekends are mine and yesterday, I rented a bicycle for the day (paying € 15 for the pleasure) and cycled in and around Montpellier for around five hours. I found it very easy to cycle in Montpellier. Though I am used to cycling on the left and out here I have to cycle on the right, I found the going very smooth. There are cycling lanes everywhere and even if there isn’t a cycling path, bicycles are treated like any other vehicle on the road. I followed the traffic signals like every other driver on the road and felt very safe.  I had lunch at an open air restaurant, with my bicycle propped up against a nearby railing. I returned my cycle at 6:30 pm and walked back to my fla...