Climate change, believe it or not, is happening like many things that change around the world, we know. Individuals change and if a similar change takes place on many individuals simultaneously, it is a phenomenon. Change either takes you (or the entire world) to a better world or destruction. Change is inevitable.
Few decades ago plastic containers (bottles) came into existence. They made our life simple. It has become easier for us to contain water and other drinks. But the world has seen their negative implications. The pictures of flooding coasts with plastic bottles and contaminating sea life are quite common these days.
It is a human tendency to continuously detect problems and seek the sustainable solutions. That is how we change and evolve. To deal with the problem of plastic containers badly influencing our surroundings, many developed countries, including Finland, have come up an idea. Quite a while ago, people used to consume drinks from these plastic containers and throw them anywhere. These countries assigned a price to an emptied plastic container. Result of which most of these containers go into a recycling chain. It is quite organized here in Finland where Rajesh and his wife have been living for the last 10 years.
Rajesh came to Finland in 1998. He got a job offer from Nokia, a mobile giant in those times. After a year, he got married to Ishita who came along with her partner. Soon she started working in Nokia too. Like most Indians, they also integrated very well in Finnish society despite very cold, windy and rainy Helsinki, Finland's capital. The clouds are so dense over the city to stop much of the sunlight. It is mostly gray here in Finland. In the beginning, the conditions bothered them but eventually they got into different layers of the city. They made good friends. The weekdays were equipped in work. They used to meet friends on weekends.
Rajesh had a great sense of humor. He wrote poems and recited to his Finnish friends. That brought them closer. Tasty Indian food served by Ishita was another strong reason of their bond. Ishita was a very good cook. She cooked Idli-Sambhar, a south-Indian not-so-spicy dish, which Finnish liked the most. Rajesh and Ishita used to celebrate Indian festivals with fellow Finnish. They imbibed cultural values and practices from their Finnish friends. In return, Finnish benefited a lot from their company. Most of their friends never visited India but they started planning to go there after being in touch with Rajesh and his wife.
Once, one of their friends asked them" do all Indian ladies cook so well? It's amazing."
Aditya, their son was born after few years of their marriage. He grew up with Indian values and Finnish education system. The education system of Finland is the world's best. Aditya celebrated Diwali, one of the biggest festivals of India with similar joy as he did Christmas with his friends. Times passed on. Aditya became 7 years old and his excitement to celebrate Christmas had gone exponentially up. He used to choose his Christmas tree well in advance. He wrote letters to Santa Claus. He knew when Santa Claus would come in the nearest shopping mall. He would then hand over his letter to him. He never questioned his existence. His parents let the conspiracy be. Rajesh would collect Aditya's letter from the man dressed like Santa Claus. With years passing by, Rajesh and Ishita could see their evolving son through his letters.
For instance, Aditya drew a painting when he was 3 years old. When he was 4, he suggested Santa Claus to come over on Christmas eve between 6 and 8 pm as he would sleep by 8.30 pm. Next year, he asked two gifts - one for him and the other one for his second cousin living in India. But 2011 was different. He didn't write anything to him. Probably he grew old enough to doubt the existence of Santa Claus. In November-December that year, Rajesh noticed two things. Aditya started spending much time at the window next to the main entrance. He would look through it and rush to his room all of sudden. He didn't allow his parents to enter his room. Rajesh and Ishita never inquired much about it. Sometimes the children live in their own worlds. They didn't dare to enter his world.
Christmas Eve arrived. Three of them dressed very well. Aditya was as usual standing by the same window. His eyes looked desperate. They were looking for someone.
Ishita whispered in Rajesh's ears "Is he waiting for Santa Claus? This year he has not written a letter to him. I thought he understood there is no such thing like Santa ?"
Rajesh shrugged. "I have no clue. Should I go out and wear a Santa Claus dress?"
While Rajesh and Ishita were in a dilemma, Aditya rushed to his room. He brought a big shopping bag from his room, opened the main door and run toward the street. It was chilling cold but very bright because of moonlight reflecting from the surface of snow. It looked identical to what is shown in children's Christmas rhymes. Aditya stood in front of a man. He was fat. He had a long white beard with few black hair showing some signs of his younghood. He must have been in his late fifties. He was completely covered by his winter wears. They looked dirty and must have stunk. Rajesh speculated as he stood at a distance. Both Rajesh and Ishita wondered what was Aditya doing in front of that man. They went closer to Aditya and that man to hear their conversation.
Aditya handed over the shopping bag to him " Merry Christmas, Fanta Claus!"
In Finland, most people understand English thanks to English TV. Despite this, the man's face clearly depicted "What the hell are you talking about?" He was more interested in the bag Aditya handed over to him. He opened the bag. It was full of plastic bottles. Smile emerged on his face. He put his hand on Aditya's head and said " God bless you." He left. We waved to him.
Later that evening Aditya explained to his parents how he had been noticing that man. The man looked into the garbage bins, like many Europeans who do so to get more money through recycling. Finding a bottle brought smile on his face and he looked disappointed in failing to find one. Aditya noticed those gestures. He collected plastic bottles and gift wrapped it for that man, his Fanta Claus -- a Santa Claus of his own world.
Really our children notice every little thing in their surroundings and buildup their own world.
Few decades ago plastic containers (bottles) came into existence. They made our life simple. It has become easier for us to contain water and other drinks. But the world has seen their negative implications. The pictures of flooding coasts with plastic bottles and contaminating sea life are quite common these days.
It is a human tendency to continuously detect problems and seek the sustainable solutions. That is how we change and evolve. To deal with the problem of plastic containers badly influencing our surroundings, many developed countries, including Finland, have come up an idea. Quite a while ago, people used to consume drinks from these plastic containers and throw them anywhere. These countries assigned a price to an emptied plastic container. Result of which most of these containers go into a recycling chain. It is quite organized here in Finland where Rajesh and his wife have been living for the last 10 years.
Rajesh came to Finland in 1998. He got a job offer from Nokia, a mobile giant in those times. After a year, he got married to Ishita who came along with her partner. Soon she started working in Nokia too. Like most Indians, they also integrated very well in Finnish society despite very cold, windy and rainy Helsinki, Finland's capital. The clouds are so dense over the city to stop much of the sunlight. It is mostly gray here in Finland. In the beginning, the conditions bothered them but eventually they got into different layers of the city. They made good friends. The weekdays were equipped in work. They used to meet friends on weekends.
Rajesh had a great sense of humor. He wrote poems and recited to his Finnish friends. That brought them closer. Tasty Indian food served by Ishita was another strong reason of their bond. Ishita was a very good cook. She cooked Idli-Sambhar, a south-Indian not-so-spicy dish, which Finnish liked the most. Rajesh and Ishita used to celebrate Indian festivals with fellow Finnish. They imbibed cultural values and practices from their Finnish friends. In return, Finnish benefited a lot from their company. Most of their friends never visited India but they started planning to go there after being in touch with Rajesh and his wife.
Once, one of their friends asked them" do all Indian ladies cook so well? It's amazing."
Aditya, their son was born after few years of their marriage. He grew up with Indian values and Finnish education system. The education system of Finland is the world's best. Aditya celebrated Diwali, one of the biggest festivals of India with similar joy as he did Christmas with his friends. Times passed on. Aditya became 7 years old and his excitement to celebrate Christmas had gone exponentially up. He used to choose his Christmas tree well in advance. He wrote letters to Santa Claus. He knew when Santa Claus would come in the nearest shopping mall. He would then hand over his letter to him. He never questioned his existence. His parents let the conspiracy be. Rajesh would collect Aditya's letter from the man dressed like Santa Claus. With years passing by, Rajesh and Ishita could see their evolving son through his letters.
For instance, Aditya drew a painting when he was 3 years old. When he was 4, he suggested Santa Claus to come over on Christmas eve between 6 and 8 pm as he would sleep by 8.30 pm. Next year, he asked two gifts - one for him and the other one for his second cousin living in India. But 2011 was different. He didn't write anything to him. Probably he grew old enough to doubt the existence of Santa Claus. In November-December that year, Rajesh noticed two things. Aditya started spending much time at the window next to the main entrance. He would look through it and rush to his room all of sudden. He didn't allow his parents to enter his room. Rajesh and Ishita never inquired much about it. Sometimes the children live in their own worlds. They didn't dare to enter his world.
Christmas Eve arrived. Three of them dressed very well. Aditya was as usual standing by the same window. His eyes looked desperate. They were looking for someone.
Ishita whispered in Rajesh's ears "Is he waiting for Santa Claus? This year he has not written a letter to him. I thought he understood there is no such thing like Santa ?"
Rajesh shrugged. "I have no clue. Should I go out and wear a Santa Claus dress?"
While Rajesh and Ishita were in a dilemma, Aditya rushed to his room. He brought a big shopping bag from his room, opened the main door and run toward the street. It was chilling cold but very bright because of moonlight reflecting from the surface of snow. It looked identical to what is shown in children's Christmas rhymes. Aditya stood in front of a man. He was fat. He had a long white beard with few black hair showing some signs of his younghood. He must have been in his late fifties. He was completely covered by his winter wears. They looked dirty and must have stunk. Rajesh speculated as he stood at a distance. Both Rajesh and Ishita wondered what was Aditya doing in front of that man. They went closer to Aditya and that man to hear their conversation.
Aditya handed over the shopping bag to him " Merry Christmas, Fanta Claus!"
In Finland, most people understand English thanks to English TV. Despite this, the man's face clearly depicted "What the hell are you talking about?" He was more interested in the bag Aditya handed over to him. He opened the bag. It was full of plastic bottles. Smile emerged on his face. He put his hand on Aditya's head and said " God bless you." He left. We waved to him.
Later that evening Aditya explained to his parents how he had been noticing that man. The man looked into the garbage bins, like many Europeans who do so to get more money through recycling. Finding a bottle brought smile on his face and he looked disappointed in failing to find one. Aditya noticed those gestures. He collected plastic bottles and gift wrapped it for that man, his Fanta Claus -- a Santa Claus of his own world.
Really our children notice every little thing in their surroundings and buildup their own world.
