I can't believe another year has come and almost gone, a whole lot has happened and I am thankful for the great people in my life. Happy holidays to my TIG family and stay safe.

Young Consumers' Guide to Eco-Friendly Living


UNEP and UNESCO Announce a New and Updated Edition of the Popular YouthXchange Training Kit. Paris/Nairobi – October 1st, 2008.

How to balance looking cool and feeling cool with the need to combat climate are among the key tips in the new United Nations YouthXchange Training kit. This updated version of the guide also gets to grips with the mountains of waste emerging across the globe as a result of today's fast throw-away society from mobile phones to fashion.

The 2008 Training Kit on Sustainable Consumption, produced by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is now in its second edition. YouthXchange is a train the trainer tool that aims to promote sustainable consumption patterns among young consumers worldwide. Among other novelties, this updated guide includes a chapter on how to find a balance between youths' consumer aspirations of dressing cool and fashionable while at the same time being aware of the impact of their consumption on, for example, climate change.

"YouthXchange is one of the most important youth activities connected to UNEP's sustainable consumption and production work - it provides us with content that we are able to convey to other young people, empowering them to make different choices in their daily lives and be actors of change," says Gabriela Monteiro, a UNEP Tunza Youth Advisor.

Young people today establish their identities through what they buy and seek social inclusion by purchasing the newest and "coolest" products on the market. Yet, when unguided, this consumption contributes to problems such as ozone depletion, climate change and hazardous wastes that not only affect our daily lives but impact the entire globe. Through their daily actions, people can increasingly reduce their environmental impact. Well aware of this, UNEP's Division of Technology, Industry and Economics (DTIE) and UNESCO decided to update the 2002 guide to include today's trends. It provides statistics, case studies, games, examples of companies going greener, and alternatives for more sustainable lifestyles. New to the guide are the following features: a clear link between our consumption patterns and climate change, a more substantial e-waste section, updated data and scientific information and two new chapters: one on the UN Decade on Education for Sustainable Development and one on fashion.

Fashion feeds a growing industry and ranks textiles and clothing as the world's second-biggest economic activity for intensity of trade[1]. However, human rights and the environment pay a heavy price – a price that people can increasingly choose to lessen with the rise of ethical fashion. Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director, said: "Young people in developed and rapidly developing economies can play a massive part in fighting climate change while being cool and keeping the planet cool too". "Through their purchasing patterns, life-style choices and networks with schools and universities to clubs, the music scene and sports they can also influence the wider world—influence that will be vital for moving communities, companies and countries to back a new UN climate change deal in Copenhagen's UN Climate Change Conference in 2009" he added. "This initiative, which fits within the framework of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD, 2005-2014), seeks to raise the awareness of young people and make responsible consumers of them," said Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO "Buying a product, what ever it is, is never a neutral act for the environment; its production, its use and the management of the waste it generates, all impact – to a greater or lesser degree – on our planet." Through YouthXchange, UNEP and UNESCO work together to show young people that it is possible to translate our aspirations for a better world into everyday actions. YouthXchange has been translated and adapted in 19 languages and is available in a bilingual (English and French) website – www.youthxchange.net.


Notes to editors: For the 2008 YouthXchange version, please visit: http://www.youthxchange.net/main/english-guide.asp. The UNEP Tunza Programme seeks to engage and involve young people through awareness creation, information exchange and capacity-building and through involving them in environmental decision-making processes globally and in the regions.

For more information on UNEP's youth and children program, please visit: http://www.unep.org/Tunza/ About the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)Created in 1972, UNEP represents the United Nations' environmental conscience. Based in Nairobi, Kenya, its mission is to provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations.

For more information, please contact: Ms. Morgan StreckerUNEP UNESCO YouthXchangeTel : + 33 1 44 37 30 35Email : mstrecker@unep.frWebsite: www.youthXchange.net

Check out my blog on the environment. Its just started but I want to hear what you have to say

http://youngjamenvironmentalists.blogspot.com/

Thanks to my TIG family that extended their warm Happy B-Day to me. I can honestly say that I am happy with my life and with who I have become. I am now comfortable in my own skin and more appreciative of the things and people in my life. I spent part of my B-day in self-evaluation because nobody knows me better than me. At the end of that evaluation, I realised that I am one happy lady; obviously not because I have done all that I can but because I know where I started and have a clear destination in mind. Once again, thanks to all that remembered.

I want to extend my condolences to anyone here at TIG who lost someone this past year-Sorry for your loss. A friend of mine lost her Mother through lung cancer and it was just a horrible experience even though she is not my own mother. I am so grateful for not losing anyone but such situations reminds me that I have to do what I need to do for the people in my life today not tomorrow because they or me might not be here tomorrow. Sometimes we tend to underappreciate people in our lives that we began to neglect them, putting things off, not calling, not visiting and sometimes engaging in malice or silent treatments. Well once these people are gone, you will regret not doing the right thing. Wishing you can turn back time to tell these people how you really feel about them- well today is your time. Let go and be free.

2007, is here and many of us has prabably forgotten our new year's resolution -that is if had any. It is so sad to me when I hear some people say things like "I don't make new year resolutions." What they are really saying is that they are so perfect, so flawless that they do not need any improvement whatever. Well I am yet to meet that perfect living human. Anyway back to my topic, focus Nina.
Healthy habits should be your watch-word if you want to have a healthier life this new year. Watch what you put into your body system, be active, read some books to keep your brain sharp, get some quality sleep regulary and have a good family/friends network. Spirituality also helps, I know because it helps and guides me regulary.

I have not had the time t post something for a really long time... but i had to write something so that I would feel better... I had an accident yesterday while i was drving back from a job interview... it was very scary it was not my fault a stuipd pic up truck dude saw me coming but never waited to let me go.... i had the right of way and he thought he coould take a turn and go but i was to fast to stop and so i ram right into him headlog... and the BASTERD ran away after the accident!!!!!

I cried, called 911, tried to fig out if i was hurt, i was glad to be alive, i was not hurt,... so many people saw the accident, no one stopped, i as just misrible .... i parked my car on a service road, waited for 911 who finally came.... it felt like an eternity for them to come.... my car i have no idea if it will be ok....

I am just glad to be alive!

I HATE BIG FAT GUYS WITH PICKUP TRUCKS!

I have been very busy lately with school work that I hardly get time to reply to your mails. Please send me mail to nina_soor@yahoo.com because I check that one in a week or so. Thanks and enjoy the things you have honestly.

one thing you must lose this year, if you haven't is -Procastination. Watch and see how efficient and easier your life will become when you stop putting things off when you can actually do it now. One skill you must acquire this year is Multitasking. You would think that with all the technologies and gadgets we have today that things will be much easier. That's hardly the case, so quit procastinating and start multitasking and tell me what you think.

Time waits for no one they say, boy are they right. 2006 is moving as fast as it came. Wasn't it just yesterday we were saying happy new year. This is a good time to reflect on what one has and hasn't done this year. It is very essential to reflect on things in other to be better.

Its been very hard to find time to write this semester, as its my last in concord. I am So excited to graduate but at the same time very scsred of whats going to happen after december as I have no clue where i am going or what I am doing.

This semester has been quite exciting in many ways, it started of with one of my good friends coming down and from South Carolina to go whitewater rafting. Yes I went whitewater rafting in WV on the new river. It was a lot of fun. We were on 3 - 5 class rappids. Lot of fun... but very very scary... I got thrown out of the raft once and my guide caught me. I did hurt my knee a bit with the adventure and was limping the rest of the two weeks... BUT it was worth it. I am so proud of myself to have done something adventerous! Will i do it again... maybe not... but I am glad i have done it once in my life....

The other interesting things - I am preparing for my senior exhihibition in full swing... I will have my juries end of October and will figure out if i can pull off a solo show which has never been dont in concord before. I hope i can. I am excited about it.

Every weekend a bunch of my friends get together and we have formed this club where we cook diferent cusins and watch different movies. Its been such a lot of fun :)

I am nervous about my graduate school application and finding a job.

On wednesday we are having Mendhi/Henna tatoo fundraiser for the Art society so i am really excited about that. I hope it goes off well.

ok there was something else that was exciting which i wanted to write by i have completely blancked out and have been staring at my mac like an idiot (girns) trying to fig out what it was... so when it dawns to me i shall write it... until then good bye!

Oh yes... I cut my hair almost half of what I had... if anyone knows me who is reading this update they would remember I had really really long hair.... well its gone... and frankly I love my short hair :) makes my head feel a lot lighter :).... no this was not what i was going to write I still dont remmeber the exciting news... i will write it later.... when i do remmeber...

See ya!

July 24th, another birthday, a year older and definetly wiser. I very much look the same on the outside but something has changed on the inside. I had a very quite birthday, just by myself, I turned off my phones and did not check my messages and mail until the next day and I was amazed at the number of calls and mails that I got. I want to thank everyone that took out time to call or send mail to me. I was really touched that my family here remembered me, Thanks TIG.
I used that day to reflect on the past year, the future and to access all my relationship. Boy, I was glad I did that because as I was going through my goals and aspirations, I noticed that there are things that have totally excaped my memory. I had an awesome time with me during my "ME" time.
So On your next birthday, take out some "me" time and really check yourself out. And be thankful for having lived another year.

(Yep this update is really long... but worth reading...!)


After the most horrifying B'day last weekend my cousin - Avni and her best friend Suresh decided to cheer me up by inviting me to spend a weekend in Mumbai to celebrate it again. I wanted to go out partying, dancing and basically have a good night life in Mumbai.

And it was the most amazing 2 days ever. I had the best time of my life :) On saturday evening I met up with Avni after a day of shopping cloth with my mom for my show in december. I was so tired, and Avni had a bad day as her boss as usual had troubled Avni a lot the whole day... and so the three of us meet up after at 9 for dinner, at Swati which is completely packed with people that we famished hungry souls cannot wait so decide to walk a block to Kamat which is about to close... perfect timing! And its just 10 in the nite... we order a ton of food... Suresh has a huge appetite... and surprisingly Avni does too... we literally are kicked out of the restaurant at 10.30 reluctantly we move on to go to Chawpati beach for a stroll, coz its to late to go clubbing and neither of us have any energy left.

So we walk for an hour or so on the beach and talk, Suresh has this unique sense of humor, that I am constantly laughing and cannot stop. Finally my cheeks and head starts hurting laughing so hard. We get tired of walking so decide to go to Coffee Cafe De across the street and order lot of coffee and lounge around until 1 am, talking of all random things which dont necessarily make sense. We talking about how bad Karan Johars movies are :P and why I feel John Abraham is hot.. and why according to Suresh I need to get examined as he completely hates John Abraham... which is natural coz he is straight ;) (Suresh do not kick me j/k). And to top it all, Suresh says I remind him of some actress out of a Karan Johar movie, big eyes, and big earrings which apparently both he and Avni had brought for me as a B'day present which were really bigger then a bracelet))... We had the most random discussions, on the definition of classics, how art and science got along, why I was studying art and political science, that I looked like a hippie... (coz of Suresh's big earrings)... What string physics was, (which apparently I have still not figured out)... and that Suresh is studying black holes and string theory and at some point of time long long long way in the future.... the black hole thats in the center of the universe is going to gobble us all... so I have plenty of time to make the most of my life :P.... and all other odd conversations. The three of us part away at 1 am barely able to walk, and high on coffee and laughter.


I stay with Avni and both of us are chatting till almost sunrise and then we decide to sleep a little so that we have some energy for anther night of partying :)

Avni and I wake up at 10 and try to have breakfast, our search goes on for the tea which is hiding somewhere in Avnis kitchen, and warming up a few other snaks to eat before we go for shopping. Both of us are famished as usual when we leave for shopping so we go get some lunch first. And then walk down Colaba and start shopping, I have a ton of things I need to buy for my friends in US, and I wanted to buy a skirt and a really cool belt.. and some other odds and ends :) After bargaining heavily and walking for almost 4 hours we finish most of the shopping and reach Barista another coffee shop to take a break before we move on, and the fun begins, I realise I forgot my specks in the restaurant we had lunch which was and the other end of Collaba where we had started walking... so back we are after a coffee... walking down again to get my specks. I am so relieved when I find out they are still live and kicking :) Then we go to Fashion street, we are supposed to meet Suresh at 7 sharp ;) which is an overstatement considering we are girls :P... and we are busy shopping for skirts and earings and other goodies until 7 :P and obviously we dont expect Suresh to reach Pizza exp. by 7 so we go home change and are above to leave when Suresh calls... apparently he thought I would be a good influence on Avni and we would actually be on time... which we are not... finally we reach pizza exp at 8 have dinner till 9.30... he has this smug look on his face... which says something is cooking so Avni and I needle him to tell us what he has been up to...after a lot of cajoling he says... his guide/prof/boss wants him to come to work in the night... which completely ruins our partying plans... both of us are really disappointed but we continue eating and then dinner is almost over when we have to decide what to do. Anvi and I cajole him and convince him that the partying idea was something we had decided to do years ago. So he decides to come with us for a while partying... the smug look has still not left his face so he says... i have something else to tell u :P most of the Disco's are meant for couples entries and we are a odd lot... 2 girls and a guy :) so we are like OH... and he is like well lets go check it out and see what happens. So we decide to take a cab to one of the night clubs. And our adventure begins....after a lot of asking cab drivers to take us to our destination and a lot of them saying no.. finally there is a guy who says yes... so we jump in... he starts driving. And while driving starts talking of random things... and then says for 3 hrs i have been waiting for a ride and now i get one which is for 13 bucks... so i am going to go a bit round and take u. We are like ok... and then we realise he has taken us to a completely opposite direction.. and we are like we understand you want the money but we never told u to take us here... and he is like no u did... and we are like ok drop us here... we get odd and thats when it strikes me and Suresh that the driver was completely drunk.... what a nightmare! we could have got killed... it was so scary... so then we get into another cab. This dude.. has a white Gandhi cap and big mustache and the 3 of us are so hysterical and laughing with what happened previously that we are very high with excitement and talking so much... after it dies down a bit the taxi driver... looks at Suresh, and asks him in pure (shudha) hindi..."Till which grade have you learnt hindi"? Suresh looks at him and says 10th. And we all are wondering, is he also drunk? Or is those types which give lecture to young people and ask us to remember our culture and tradition and that we should be ashamed of our selves that we speak english when we can speak hindi... but then he moves on to saying ok I am going to tell you a poem, give me the meaning of it... by now both me and Avni have covered our mouths, Suresh who is sitting next to the driver has to answer him... and both of us are looking outside the windows trying not to laugh to hard... its so funny looking at Suresh trying to tackle the meaning of the poem. Suresh desp. needs help and looks back at us but all he can see is two giggling girls... :) We finally reach our destination and both of is jump out of the cab and leave Suresh to answer the driver... and burst out laughing coz we cannot take it anymore... its just to much for us to bare... and Suresh walks up to us after a few min. looking completely dazed... and is like... what were you thinking... i needed help and all u girls could do is giggle away! But Suresh, then says he got an explanation from the cab driver, apparently the driver was testing us to see how cultured we were... and as Suresh used his logic to deduct the meanings of the poem we passed his test. It seems this driver tests youngsters and he himself is well read and learnt a lot of hindi poems. He had a book by Kabir with him under his seat.

Anwyas... we are so freaked out with both the incidences that we keep laughing all the way to Redlight Pub whch was supposed to be our destination. And ask luck would have it, it was booked for a private party so we could not get in. The only choice we had was to go to Insomnia Taj, so we walk there not daring to take another taxi...and are relived when the butler does not stop us as we are not couples... so we walk in merrily and go into the disco... its loud and interesting.. coz as soon as we enter there is this random guy who is the only one dancing in the middle of the floor and the rest are so creped out that not one is dancing... we get a drink and wait thinking more people will join in and that we will join in when others do... but it gets more creepier and the guy seems to be desperate and definitely drunk! The music is horrible and we dont like it so then Avni comes up with a brainwave of going to a third place which is close by so we leave, and walk to the third place and realise that its closed on sunday and mondays!!!!! Our luck was going drastically wrong and suresh thought it was the big earrings i was wearing that had to do with the bad luck ;))

So we reluctantly go back to Insomia... (Insomania as we called it from then on) and decided we would have a good time no matter what! But the creepy thing was when we got back there were a lot more people dancing but it was so guy and lesbo... all guys with guys and all girls with girls... AHHH! so aggravating... and we were the only 3 people who seemed to be odd in the whole lot. But then we decided come what may we would have fun... so we did :)At 12 in the night I was supposed to meet two long lost cousins of mine so they finally arrived and so Suresh, me and Avni parted away and Avni and I went off with my other set of cousins to a pastry shop near by and had a delicious Baileys Chocolate mouse cakes.... yummy!!!! i had an ok time with these cousins as they seemed more interested in talking to their girl friends then meeting me... so i was a bit irritated.... coz the were supposed to have come to meet me... and they bumped into these two girls in the cake shop.

But apart from that slight hitch we all had a wonderful time... Avni, Suresh and me... lots of fun and adventurous experience which we will always remember :) So i finally had the party that I was looking for... just wish it was on my bday! Oh well.... better luck next time :) Oh what a weekend it was!

I had an interesting week, I am preparing for my senior show in December and my theme is Ajanta and Ellora caves in India. They are architectural ruins made in almost the 1st and 2nd Centaury BC. Anways, I decided to go visit them and as per my profs. wishes and try to paint them on the spot.

I thought it was going to be fun and easy, but i was so very wrong. I leant a few important lessons this week, first one its very very hard to paint outdoors. Especially in a historical monument. I was so disturbed with constant attention, of people and visitors who kept poking their head in my sketch book it made me feel so uncomfortable and nervous. I was an amusement (for them) as much as they were an amusement to me. Inspite of trying to avoid and ignore them i could not help being disturbed. Some really curious ladies also poked me and asked me so many questions. I was so fed up. The weather was horrible, lots of rain so everything was wet, mucky, and full of mosquitoes. My foot is full of bites and its kind of swollen. I realized i could not force myself to paint. What ever i did if i was not in the mood i could not paint it. I tried so hard but it did not work out... finally i succumbed to taking lots of photos and am back to paint them all at home. I might have given up really early, or I did the right thing i have no idea, but yes i did learn quit a bit from this experience. I guess i dont have much time to do everything i want to in the visit back home... and also it was very hard to stay with my mom for the last one week, she was getting extremely agitated as she did not have anything to do. And my mother is a very active i must say over active person. Without work she might as well kill herself. She stayed with me for a week and did complain a bit, but tried to be very patient but could not hold on.... so with all that around me i just could not paint. But at least i tried! I know what to expect next time i decide to do something like this... I need to pack loads of patience along with all my bag and baggage when I go to paint outside next time!

I am grateful that I am alive and most importantly, that I am healthy. Take a moment to look around you today and see the many blessings surrounding you in different shapes and manner. In the mist of our busy schedules, many have lost their gratitudes for the things they are still able to do. We tend to focus on what we don't have, or things we wish we have. The truth is, pastures always do look greener from afar. Most times those things we wish we have will not make us a happier or better people. So make do with what you have right now because who you really are does not depend on what you have or do not have.