Friday, March 27, 2009

Plants may die but objects rise

My mother is crazy about houseplants. She buys them from flower shops and collects them from friends. She waters them regularly and uses them for decoration for every corner of our apartment in Varna. Every corner, except for my room.

Although I appreciate the beauty of houseplants, I cannot take good care of them. Even the cactus, which I bought for my mom and whose growth was under my supervision, died. I just give houseplants what they need the least. As a child, I tried bandaging the ficus in our living room. As a teenager, I put wine in the flower pot because someone had recommended it for the plant's growth. Finally, I started talking to them because I had read an article claiming that flowers needed attention. Nothing helped.


That is how I decided to stick to inanimate objects designed as nature's gifts. A chair in the shape of a leaf, a bench with the wings of a butterfly--I can handle this. Nature-themed furniture relaxes me and has the ability to survive despite my negligent care. Wood decorations, lotus flower candles and tree paintings bring me the same vibe of nature houseplants bring my mother. But then again, they don't bring the same feeling of comfort. No one will want to sit in my flat, wooden leaf chair.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Welcome the People's Car

I am 21 years old, don't own a driving license and haven't even tried driving. But I just experienced one of the rare moments in my life that prompt me to change this reality. Tomorrow, on March 23rd, the world’s cheapest car will be officially launched.

The Tata Nano is designed by Tata Motors in India to target the mass of consumers with its highly low price. The People's Car will cost around 100,000 rupees ($1,950). Although it looks quite small, it actually has the capacity to seat four passengers. What is more, Tata Motors is working on Nano's eco-friendly electric-version, the E-Nano, whose design is believed to include solar panels.

The Tata Nano will not only bring convenience to Indian consumers, but it will also undoubtedly influence India's economy. According to statistics of the rating agency CRISIL, "Tata Nano’s launch could expand the Indian car market by 65%."

The main critiques of the cheapest car model address the correlation between safety measures and the rate of car accidents in India. The Nano won't include airbags and antilock braking systems because they are not mandatory safety-features in India. "India has 8 per cent of the world’s vehicle fatalities and less than 1 per cent of its cars, with more than 90,000 people killed on the country’s roads every year," writes Catherine Riley, The Times Motoring Editor.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Radio dilemmas

When I came back from my study abroad semester in Russia, I realized how much I had missed Pandora. The interactive yet simple online radio offered me all the music I had forgotten and helped me find some new performers matching my taste. But now I find myself bored with Pandora's suggestions and actively looking for alternative music Web sites, streaming live radio stations and podcasts.

Most of my friends use Pandora or Last.fm for background music while studying, cleaning and yes, even partying. These Web sites are indeed an indispensable part of the student life I know. The opportunity to create personalized radio stations was immediately heralded with excitement and enthusiasm.

However, I recently realized that Pandora was somewhat limiting my music experience. I am already 99 percent familiar with the songs I listen to and even though I create new stations and mix play lists, I still end up listening to Silence by Delerium at least five times a day. I discussed this with a couple of friends, users of Pandora and Last.fm, and they admitted that they sometimes also feel limited to certain genres and musicians.

Naturally, one can go beyond these two Web pages to look for further music explorations. For instance, some great online tools are Songza, imeem and Musicovery. But will one ever feel the element of surprise the traditional radio can bring?

Thursday, March 12, 2009

When years make sense

Whenever I encounter a year in my readings I tend to measure it according to my mother's year of birth. Roosevelt was first elected a president 28 years before and the Watergate scandal took place 13 years after my mother was born.

Last week I had a lunch conversation with a Belorussian student about our respective families. She is now a junior and had not been home, in Belarus, since her arrival at college. She told me that she was the only child of her parents. She told me that she missed sitting at the kitchen table while her mom was preparing dinner. She told me that her mom was her best friend.

How can you take someone away from her nostalgia and loneliness when you know how pure and real these feelings are? They bring images of warmth that the mind freezes and idealizes. They guide you through what is important in life and what will be kept forever virgin.

The Belorussian girl told me that she missed her parents but did not miss her country. She, like many other citizens of ex-Soviet republics, recognizes two distinct concepts of home country--the beloved one associated with parents, childhood memories, and friends, and the hated one associated with bureaucracy and corruption. It is the motherland versus the government.

Although I left the Belorussian girl to her nostalgia, I did tell her something reassuring during this lunch conversation. I told her that my mother had a birthday in a week, on March 12, and that I was about to send her a postcard.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Work in Tanzania? Why not!

No doubt the economic downfall is threatening the living standards of millions of people worldwide. But could it lead to any positive results?


My friend Yana visited a non-profit career fair held at Columbia University last week. She told me that the administration there was highly overwhelmed with the number of people who showed up. This was, apparently, their biggest turnout in a long time.

Most of my fellow college students are actively looking for summer internships and post-graduate job positions on Idealist, an interactive Web page for non-profit organizations, volunteer opportunities and various causes with international dimensions.
Honestly, I think this is wonderful. Now that many students realize Economics, Finance and Business majors won't necessarily lead them to stable career paths in prosperous industries, they start to approach alternative professions.

I am witnessing a massive expansion of minds. Spontaneous questions and quick answers circulate in the college atmosphere: "Public education policy? Why not!", "Work in Tanzania? Why not!"

The economic crisis brought job losses in many industries like banking and investment. But maybe it also brought employment options for all those people unsure about their future careers.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Salt it before you taste it?

In Russia, people insist on having their three-meal courses consisting of a soup, a main dish and a dessert. As soon as we received our soups in the Smolny school cafeteria, I would reach for the pepper and my Czech friend would reach for the salt. It was a habit, a mechanical action that came before we had gotten anywhere near touching the spoon. "You are being prejudiced," accused us laughingly our American friend sitting at the other end of the table.


We were being prejudiced against the soup. We hadn't tried it but we already knew it was lacking something. You might laugh over this incident but I took it very seriously and applied it to life, in general. If one salts a dish before tasting it, then what prevents one from judging a person without knowing him/her?

The principle behind this practice of adding salt and pepper to a meal was important. I admit that, even though I try to be as open-minded as possible, I do judge people prematurely. I still approach many life situations with preconceived notions. But as much as I want to taste the soup before I put pepper in it, I know it can always use some more.