Mahazareen Dastur's Blog (18)

“Smell is a potent wizard that transports you across thousands of miles and all the years you have lived”.

-          Helen Keller (Blind and deaf educator, 1880–1968)

My children often smile indulgently on our visits to the local library, not because they accept my love of reading (they are avid readers also), but because they find it amusing when I tell them that the library we frequent in Mumbai reminds me of the University department I studied at miles away…

Over the centuries, advances in science and technology have driven mankind to become what it is today. The wheel, the compass, the printing press, soap, the telephone, the light bulb, penicillin, electricity, the internet, … all of these inventions can be named in the same breath, given the manner in which they have transformed the way we live today. But there is much more to come! Here are (what I would like to think) possible future breakthroughs for the near and distant future that…

This morning, I had the pleasure of attending a lecture given by Dr. Dilafruz Williams. Dr. Williams is founding director of the Leadership in Ecology, Culture, and Learning program and of the Learning Gardens Laboratory at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. She also co-founded the Environmental Middle School (grades 6-8) in 1995, which has now expanded to K-8 Sunnyside Environmental School in Portland Public…

I generally do not rely on the Times of India (TOI) to give me my daily dose of useful, thought-provoking information, but the TOI did really get it right today! Page 24 carries two such thought-provoking write-ups. One is a column called Swaminomics by Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar and the other an interview of Joseph Stiglitz, one of the few economists with the foresight to predict the financial crisis of 2008.



So what pearls of wisdom do…

Most of us have heard the saying "don't believe everything you read". Most of us are used to the Nigerian "help me, I am stranded without money in a foreign country" scam, as well as "forward this mail to ten people and be blessed forever" emails. Hopefully, most of us do not believe what we read, at least, not in such cases.

So when I read about the wonderful miracles Bt Cotton was performing for the poor farmers of Maharashtra, I was skeptical.…

Ever since climate change and its probable effects on earth became common knowledge, much has been written about the topic. The world has been riveted by various climate change…

Of late, I have been thinking that one day goes by without a newspaper carrying an article or story related to environmental issues. If you live in India (like I do), such news is more often than not (very) depressing. After reading numerous such stories, I (almost) started questioning myself about whether anything "can go right" when it comes to environmental concerns. So, this morning, when I picked up the latest issue of Saudi Aramco World magazine and flipped through it, I was…

“The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts.”

― C. S. Lewis

With the introduction of Environmental Studies in the Indian educational…

One usually reads environmentally depressing news about cell phones - the ewaste they generate, the prospect of dangerous radiation they (probably) emit, and the…

I have often wondered whether I am doing the right thing by using anything that looks like plastic or buying anything remotely associated with it. Let's think about it... the packaged lentils we buy, the nylon and polyester we wear, the Amul milk the kids have each morning, the rain coats they use in the rains, the books I order off flipkart.com (they come shrink-wrapped in clingfilm), the computer you are using to read this blogpost, bullet-proof vests (nope, I don't need those but I…

I know... the title sounds a tad(!) odd. After all, what does chocolate have to do with Corporate Social Responsibility and/or eco-cities? The answer might surprise you.



The original chocolate giant had humble beginnings. Established by a draper in Birmingham in the early nineteenth century, the small business saw many downs before it rose to become the chocolate empire to contend with in the late 1800s. Being staunch…