Monday, March 29, 2010

Earth hour = family hour

27th March was celebrated as the Earth Hour. That meant switching off all electrical appliances for an hour. This in turn would result in saving power. I think it is such a simple idea yet one so very effective.

Children were wondering what they could do for that one hour without any power. You see children these days are so very dependent on various gadgets and all of these need power. So we told them it was for this very reason that they need to save power. We also told them how global warming has started having negative effects on the whole world that we live in and which they themselves are experiencing currently. We told them that if they were to live in relative comfort when they grow up , they definitely need to do something about it now. Sometimes we get so used to having these basic necessities in our life that we hardly give any thought to it. It is only later we realise how much these precious resources mean to us. Literally it has the power to change our entire life style.

Promptly at 8.30 we switched off all the power and sat outside in our balcony. There was general talk, jokes and fun with all of us for a change sitting together out there enjoying the cool breeze in the night. Suddenly there seemed to be a lot to talk about. After sometime, the kids the football freaks that they are, had a bright idea of this game of naming a football player and using the end letter of the first name to name another football player whose name would start with that alphabet. I could see that they really were having so much fun.

The best part was when my mother- in- law too enthusiastically participated in this by switching off the television and giving up watching her favourite serial and doing her bit! Time just flew and when it was time to switch on the power my little one asked me if we could switch on the power after some time? I was more than happy to do that. I felt maybe we should do this more often as it not only saves power but in the process lets us reconnect with each other too.

4 comments:

FinSecAdvisor said...

thank earth hour for providing another relationship building exercise.....reminds of the times we had during our childhood....no TV, no video games / cassettes, nor tape recorders to play.....just have fun by listening to the story tellers around our home.....

Unknown said...

we really enjoyed the earth hour last year while overseas it turned to be a wonderful family bonding time as we had a candle lit dinner and went on to play dumb charades.

this event should be held a number of times a year to resolve the bigger environmental issues....

We need more advts and hype on TV and other media about the event in India as this year we did not realise the event came and went by until the next day when i opened the newspaper.While overseas it is publicised heavily and kids are encouraged at schools so they are enthusiastic abt participating in the event.

shobhana shenoy said...

Thanks Nirguna Nirakara for your comment. I guess the day is not far when we might forcibly go back to that era of no power and inadvertently get back to what we call the good old days of no TV, video etc. All thanks to wasting of precious fuel.

shobhana shenoy said...

Hi Jocelyn,
Thanks for your comment.Last year we could not participate due to the same reason. But this year atleast I guess there was much more publicity. But yes more awareness programmes would definitely help and that too in local languages so that more and more people can participate to make this a huge success.