Recycling

A few decades ago, milk was sold in bottles. As a kid, my father used to buy the milk, clean the bottles and return them. This was true for most consumables. 

Then came the plastic age .. everything from rice to milk started getting sold in plastic wrapping. The amount of plastic waste around us is disgusting. Once the consumable is used, the plastic is just discarded, which is really bad. At least with paper cartons, the cartons can be recycled. And plastic, unlike paper, is harmful to plants :(. 

So, at the cost of a bit of my time and effort, I've reverted to buying milk in bottles. After consuming the milk, I return the bottles to the same store. Therefore, no waste, nothing to recycle, and I feel I'm doing my part for the environment !

I read a bit more on milk bottles and looks like I am not the only one .. 
http://www.strocel.com/glass-milk-bottles/

If more people, especially in India, could take initiatives to reduce plastic consumption, the country would be so much cleaner and pollution free (like it used to be during my parents' childhood days).

To Raja ...

In one of my previous posts (http://deepasayz.blogspot.ca/2012/10/raja-stray-who-adopted-us.html), I put up pictures of Raja. Am so glad I did because when I went home this time, he was nowhere to be found.

One bad day, he disappeared .... No trace of him anywhere. 

Theories on his disappearance are many. My mother feels he might have been buried alive. There was a construction going on nearby. It is possible he couldn't get up in time. My neighbour feels he might have fallen in a garbage dump and died. 

A dog-sterilisation corporation van went by a day before he disappeared. After the van went, new dogs were seen in our locality. Hopefully Raja has just been displaced, and will come back to us one day. 

Life doesn't seem the same without him. Though a stray, he was our confidante. From not letting us touch him, he graduated to letting us put 'tikka' on his forehead. 

When we had to go to buy something from the shops at night, he always came with us. Even if he was not lying in front of the gate, he'd come running from somewhere. It was a kind of security having him with us.

The last time I left home after a visit, he howled his head off. He ran after the car as far as he could, and I had tears all through the journey. And this time, he's not to be seen.

Wherever he is, I hope he knew just how we loved him. He'll never know how much his disappearance has affected us. Though my mind says it is impossible, I wish he comes back.

And it's yet another new year !

2014 .. The dawn of yet another year ... Dawn ? A month past the new year...
Nevertheless, for a lot of people like me, the new year freshness lasts till March-April.

Now that a lot of clouds have lifted, and the sun seems to peep through, I hope to restart writing !