Chennai Marathon - A greek tragedy!

I feel compelled to write ! compelled when every I have a strong sense of pain when I see foolish things happen around us! Take for instance the Chennai Marathon organised today!

The Corporate and political wolves have been running a campaign for more than a week with all the who's who of Chennai posing for photos sporting some cause or the other (Education! food! better living standards ! whatever!) and here we are on D Day!

I don't see these brand ambassadors or the corporate organisers or the politicos running for the cause they were so sweetly promoting... the brand ambassadors have already been paid ! the corporate organisers will make money through this event! and as for the politicos the lesser said the better !

What was painful... was, to see the truly motivated lesser privileged localities sweating and running most of them Barefoot !!! and on the other end were the posers with their fancy track suits and sports shoes and Ipods walking, chatting and having CANDY BARS !!! for gods sakes man, eating in a marathon !!! chatting on their blue tooth device as they walked down the street.

Why cant the corporates and the politicos Identify the truly motivated underprivileged kids who actually ran (barefoot or not) and take them to the next level! And where the hell are the brand ambassadors they should have lead the pack - if they really wanted to promote the cause !

And ho... there was this ambulance in Santhome the driver had to wait for 15 Min's to cross the road why? because the posers were running... the cops made the ambulance wait while a fancy Toyota Corolla with Govt plates and the Judges monogram has a free pass to roam anywhere on the street ! now I am sure whoever the judge was,, his morning 6:30 am ride in the govt car on a Sunday is no more important than an ambulance trying to make its way to save some life!

All in all quite a shameful experience !

Train your Brain

Seriously I have no idea how to start this blog, Its about how old vehicles pollute lesser than newer vehicles... Absurd Idea ! I think not. Allow me to explain why..

There was this talk some time ago that all vehicles more than 15 years old from the original date of registration should be banned from plying on the roads, and why? because older vehicles pollute more and newer vehicles pollute less Blah-di-Blah and more Blah Blah Blah...

Now that puts me in a predicament! I have 3 lovely British motorcycles all of them ahem well past the 15 year mark, here's the list a 1941 Matchless, a 1953 AJS and a 1984 Bullet. To the untrained brain these vehicles may be the sole cause of global warming and the Artic ice caps melting down raising the sea level. But then that's the untrained brain saying that.

Allow me to highlight with an example. I took the oldest bike in my collection the 1941 Matchless to the Vehicles emission checking center recently and the following are the results - Co (% by Vol) 0.44 % against the minimum limit of 4.5% and HC 0770 (PPM - parts per million) against the minimum of 9000 (PPM) Surprised...! don't be... not yet...compare these figures against my friend's brand new 220 cc bike from Bajaj - CO 3.90% and HC 8500 (ppm) technically both bikes are within the pollution limits and are road legal.

But then come on now... Is this the latest technology which is supposed to save the earth from global warming and save the seals from drowning? My little cousin who is knee high to a grass hopper can tell you that the 1941 matchless pollutes less than the latest 2010 Bajaj. Maybe the British didn't have to bother about minimum compliance on pollution, when they made their machines - if you get the drift!

Another aspect in favour of keeping the old vehicles road worthy, is the far greater issue of pollution caused by the Automobile industry itself, right from the manufacturing facilities to the O.E.M Suppliers. To produce one motorcycle or car think about the tons of energy consumed and the pollution caused by these factories. And the vehicles carrying raw materials to and fro to the factory and the finished product to the dealers floor. If you already have a vehicle made lets say, about 50 years ago and it caters to all your requirements, this cost of manufacturing pollution has been amortised over the years.

Have you ever wondered what happens to your car or bike after you sell it! Have you ever been to a salvage yard or a vehicles Scrap yard! I strongly recommend you to make a short visit to the nearest salvage yard right away... you will understand the absolute mess at these places. No vehicle is salvaged 100 % what ever remains go to land fill sites yeah they dump and bury the waste they can't recycle - Land pollution ! Water body contamination ! rings bells, heard these terms before! and think about all the precious land which is being wasted and yet like simple children we take flags and march on the road to prevent deforestation !

Think !

I am for afforestation, I am for technology, I am for preventing global warming and I have decided to do my bit... I am gonna keep my existing vehicles and keep them in top shape and pollute less and not contribute to Industrial pollution from new vehicle manufacture and Land pollution from Salvage yards.

Thank you very much and thank the British because in a time when pollution laws were an alien concept they made their vehicles to last a life time, A life time not just in human terms but of Earth itself.