MEE is happy to announce it's 2nd Christmas hamper under its
0 Comments
One of the rituals which I always follow on my trip to Kerala is to stop by some small co-operative self help group stores along the highway and go through all the products that they have. I am always on the look out small articles which I can pick up for my Mumbai friends. Thanks to this ritual the wonderful pappadakol (which is very common Kitchen cutlery in Kerala) found its way to Thane and through me to a whole lot of my friends, customers and well wishers. And guess what! None of them had seen something like this in the past. They all found, the material (which is the trunk of the coconut tree and its architecture very amazing what all liked the most is the name so my first task was to break up the name for them. Pappad - which of course every one understood and 'kol which no ' one understood kol means stick in Malayalam. The second task was to explain how one could fry pappad with it! Each and every one of them were excited with the pappadakol.. A friend of mine immediately decided to gift these pappadakols to her fellow participants in the cookery contest she had participated in.. But what fascinated me the also the most and is main basis of this article is the many uses that my friends found for this new entry.
A friend of mine used to it make small kababs fo her ' punglie'recepie she also used it to remove not yam pieces from hot water. Another friend of mine used it to turn appapms still another found that she to had decided carry it with her as a weapon of self defence I because of its pointed and sharp tip. Yet another one said that her traditional pappads are very thin and roasting these in the gas had become very for her now. My husband too found a very interesting use of this instrument. The other day the window pin had fallen in the grill and he need something long and slender to remove it The answer was of course the pappadakol. I wish to extend my gratitude the person who invented this but insbument and the stores who sold this wonderful product. So like my friend Anjana puts it " Thank you for this pappadkol." I am sure you are waiting for the eco friendly bamboo rakhis. I thank you for being patient and am sure this wait is appropriately rewarded with this year's most beautiful designs. This year we have 6 new designs of the total 10 designs. Please spread the word around! This effort of yours will help more than 100 Burad families and 25 families of the Thoti tribe in Chandrapur. They look forward to all your support to be reach a 6 figure target this year!
Very hesitantly I dragged my feet towards the post office ( Sandoz Baug post office) which is only 500 meters away from my house, but seldom visited by me. Not because I didn't have anything to parcel just that I didn't have confidence in their services.
The staff in their post office are quite rude,inefficient, will never give you all the details at one time will ask you to come the following day and most importantly will never ensure prompt delivery. These were my ingrained feelings about a post office. But with the pandemic surrounding us travelling to the courier office which is 5 Kms away was not possible and the courier person was not assuring me prompt delivery. Rakhi was around the corner and I had to ensure that this time too maximum people opt for eco friendly Rakhi made by NGOs. This would be possible only if I gave it to them at affordable rates but more important than that was to promise them delivery of the rakhees at the respective destinations in time. With these thoughts in my mind I reached the gate of the post office only to see a serpentine queue at the counter. Of course all were wearing mask and maintaining distance too. This scene just substantiated my opinion about the postal services. But as I drew closer to the counter I saw how each postal staff was working very hard to meet all the demands. Even though there were network issues they were trying out alternate options. One distressed lady who had come to withdraw the entire amount of her recurring deposit was actually being counselled by the post staff pleading her not to take such a hasty decision. Then it was my turn. I had a lot of explaining to do about the eco friendly Rakhi, my requirements from the post office etc. The minute I said that I am a social worker and was there to promote eco friendly products the lady at the counter was very eager to know more about my work and requested me to wait till the counter time gets over. I was completely surprised! My interaction with them was overwhelming. They agreed to support me wholeheartedly and also became my first Rakhi customers. From then onwards I have been their regular customer and they are mine. My parcels are reaching all places in Mumbai and India well on time and at very economical rates thanks to the post office. I am today a strong ambassador of the postal service and have been advocating all my friends to use postal service, acknowledge their prompt service in turn. Just as toothpaste is to colgate, photo copy to Xerox, parcel is to post office. Meet Shreelata Menon who is encouraging people to shift towards a sustainable lifestyleInherently all human beings are good. I have always believed in this and will always continue to have faith in it. With this faith deeply rooted I run this campaign which I call "Sell in India"
COVID has been tough on each and everyone of us in some way or the other but how tough it has been on our hard-working NGOs is unimaginable. It is rightly said "when the going gets tough the tough gets going". I am proud that I am associated with a great number of such tough souls across the country and the time has come when we need to prove ourselves as compassionate living beings. This Diwali let's all pledge to support livelihood of these people so that while we eat rich sweets they manage to eat a two square meal and while we decorate and light up our whole house they are able to keep a small diya at their doorstep. Shree's Green Spaces has an entire pitara of wonderful natural products which will make your Diwali truly special. A Diwali which is earth friendly and livelihood friendly too. All the products are made either by distressed women, rural artisans, tribal people, people who promote Sanskrit as a way of living, the ones who work to protect cows or farmer who want to do farming organically. Each cause here is wonderful and each product very beautiful. And our responsibility does not stop at buying these products rather it starts with it. Let's try to get more and more of her friends to buy it as it is rightly said that" to make a difference 'you' have to be the start but to scale up the work "YOU" all have to join in". Friends I appeal to one and all,no contribution is big or small,but the joy of giving is INFINITE. Diwali is a Pan-Indian festival. Lets make this year's Diwali truly different.
How? A new Green Shreelata Diwali special kit is coming your way. It contains 10 most unique and very useful products. Why should you buy these products?
This Diwali is a new normal. This Diwali is for our Environment. This Diwali is for our fellow Indians. Let's make it truly different ! Diwali is a festival for health, wealth and prosperity - to make a new beginning... Buy and gift generously-- We invite you to be part of this new movement... |
ShreelataI am a passionate conservationist. Archives
November 2021
Categories |