Polluting Nuclear Power

With the nuclear fiasco in Japan the world has turned its attention to the pros and cons of using nuclear power. There are great people at the top who are studying the situation, experts in the field of nuclear physics have been studying the use and effects of nuclear power, and they say it is safe and it is an alternative to thermal power stations as they cause less pollution. Absolutely right! Nuclear power plants produce a miniscule fraction of the pollutants that a thermal power plant produces. But does that necessarily mean that the whole process of producing nuclear energy pollutes the environment any less than what a power plant using fossil fuel does? NO! NEVER!

Thermal power plants: they generally use coal, which produces a lot of smoke – it definitely pollutes the environment. Then there is coal mining and its transportation and the dumping of the waste. All this does not cost much but it does pollute. Now look at the nuclear power stations: we can see no blake smoke plummeting out of chimneys. We say – hey, look, there is no smoke… this definitely does not pollute! Yes, there is no smoke at the power station, but there is a lot of smoke everywhere else.

Fuel needed to run a nuclear power station is not commonly found and is not as abundant as fossil fuels. Their mining and extraction requires the use of a lot of machinery, much more than coal mining, and these minerals are then processed and readied for commercial use. The whole process requires the use of a massive amount of machinery that pollutes much more than what coal mining and transportation does. Then where is the edge that scientists and politicians are saying there is when they are touting nuclear power as less polluting? I see nothing special, only added problems.

Thermal power generation is much cheaper than producing nuclear power and it is safe. The mining and extraction of nuclear fuel is very expensive, much more expensive than coal, and then there is the added cost of transportation – as a lot of security is involved in the process, trying to protect it from falling into the wrong hands. Added to all this, the equipment used in a nuclear power plant is far more expensive than the ones used in a thermal power plant. And then there is the added expense on air-tight security at a nuclear power plant.

I fail to understand the use or the need of nuclear power stations when they do not contribute any less to pollution and are astronomically expensive to run – I leave aside the effects in the case of a catastrophe. A wrecked thermal power plant requires far less expenditure and is far more environment friendly than a wrecked nuclear power station. We could use the astronomical sum to research and develop renewable sources of energy like tapping solar energy at the Stratosphere level. Can someone please tell me what the big deal is with nuclear power, other than making a handful of people multi-billionaires?

Kashmir Enroute

Kashmir has been at the center of controversy and debate ever since partition. Terrorism, militancy, separatism has been some of the issues associated with it. A large number of commissions and committees have been formed to try and solve the problems associated with the picturesque landscape. But none till now have come up with any plausible solution to bring peace to the lands of Kashmir. The only way forward seems to be the way shown by the Kashmiris themselves in the recent election in the state.

The various separatist leaders of Kashmir had been urging the Kashmiris to boycott the panchayati raj election of this year. They accuse the Government of India of corruption and intent to loot Kashmir. The believe and propagate the belief that the present situation in Kashmir can be attributed to the treatment meted out to Kashmir by the Indian government. They want Kashmir to be a sovereign country. So this time, when the elections came, they asked the local populace, rather threatened them to abstain from voting. But it so happened that the people of Kashmir did not seem to share their opinion and went all-out to vote. It was a massive turnout.

It seems to me that in consonance with the present mood of common people all over the world, the Kashmiris have taken matters into their own hands. They have had enough of the fightings and accusations and want to build their own lives now. They have lost enough Kashmiri lives to this mindless game of politics.

This election shows that the Kashmiris have finally rested their hopes on the working of the democracy that India promises. Instead of depending on the dubious MPs and MLAs to take care of them they have taken charge of their own fates by depending on the Panchayats, the local government, to take care of their needs. After all, who will understand their needs better than they themselves. They have been supported in their efforts by the chief minister, Mr Omar Abdullah’s faith in Panchayati Raj. This devolution of power to the grass-roots had decreased the incidence of militancy in a marked way.

Militancy was able to strengthen its roots among the people as a means to solve their problem. But instead of solving them, militancy has increased the problems faced by the local people and only helped the aspirations of a select few. Panchayati Raj and democracy seem to be the only way out of their problems, and a very good one I must say. If the Panchayati Raj system works, then militancy can say farewell to Kashmir. I am not saying that there will not be militants. There will still be militants among the people of Kashmir but they would find it very difficult to garner support for their cause and work freely.

The cynics may say that there are a large number of examples of panchayats diverting democracy to the material welfare of a select few and the corruption that is prevalent. With due respect to their concern I would like to point out that there is much higher concentration of corruption in the upper echelons of power than in the lower strata. Kashmir deserves a chance and they have earned it by electing to vote despite threats. It is my belief that these people will be able to use democracy to bring peace and prosperity to Kashmir. You may say that my belief is a bit utopian but you will have to agree that in the present scenario it is possible – very possible. Instead of harping on the what-ifs of the upcoming election in West Bengal, we should pay more attention to what has happened in Kashmir and learn our lessons from it.

Growing Up

People always ask us to grow up. Don’t be a child they say. But what do they mean when they ask us to grow up? I have tried to fathom this question several times and I have always failed to get a satisfactory answer. I am tall and big now, is this not growing up? Not exactly. People expect us to act all grown up and this concept of growing up also varies from person to person.

My very close friend once asked me when I will grow up. I said tomorrow. Well, you can guess the effect this answer had. Growing up to many means to act like adults. You are now free to do anything you like. You are expected to be suave, polished, be politically correct, behave in a particular manner and even talk in a particular manner. When I told my friends that I neither smoked nor drank, they asked me to grow up. When I ran out into the pouring rain in Delhi without an umbrella and splashed around in the puddle, they asked me to grow up. When I went to the market in my pajamas, they asked me to grow up. When I begged the girl whom I loved to stay, they asked me to grow up. When I watched Tom & Jerry Show, they asked me to grow up.

Now, if I listen to my friends and decide to do what they say and grow up, I shall have to drink and smoke, stay dry while it is raining in Delhi (which is rarely), always dress up when going out, be emotionless and stop watching cartoon and having a good laugh. If I do all this I shall be grown up according to my friends. But if I do all this I will not be able to recognize myself. I shall be doing my best to become someone else and stop being myself. I am not a kid. I know what is proper and improper. I shall obviously not be nagging and try being a kid. I am just being myself which others do not seem to like. Everyone wants others to be like them. I love to be with people who love cartoons, chocolates, and love to be creative and original. Why should I be like everyone else.

Growing up, to me, means to be mature – mature in your outlook towards life and society, mature in your thoughts and actions, and mature enough to handle your own problems. Whether you love to watch Pokemon or Pingu or you are crazy about ice-cream, really does not matter. It is these idiosyncrasies in us that make us unique and individual. If we always try to be what others want us to be, we will never be ourselves, in the process losing our individuality and creativity.

Grow up, I say, but do not give up what you love to do. Grow up, I say, by looking at the world around you and appreciating it for what it is. Grow up, I say, by maintaining your integrity and following your dreams. People who ask us to grow up and be like them have long stopped being individuals, stopped being human and stopped being interesting. Grow up, I say, in your thinking and outlook but remain a child in your heart and soul. Only then will you live for the joy of living.