The man climbed the rocky hillock. The air was cool all around him. He had been climbing for a long while now but did not feel the slightest bit tired. His mind felt fresh and clear, as it did every time he walked up this place.

As he climbed, he looked at the picturesque town nestling at the bottom. The lake next to it and the greenery at the distance all looked straight out of a scene from a postcard. He had come to this town a few years ago. And had never regretted the move. The bright and lively town looked quaint and delicate from where he was now. The lake right next to it looked impossibly clear and blue.

He walked slowly taking the whole scene in. There still was some way to the top, but he was in no real hurry. He loved this stretch. He felt more alive here. As if all his senses had been amplified. He felt sure if he concentrated hard enough he could hear the pleasant buzz of the town all the way from the bottom. He could make out the color on each feather of the bird that was flying in lazy circles above him. He breathed the clean mountain air and continued his way to the top.

He felt a cold draft of wind on the back of his neck which made him turn and look up. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the bird freeze in mid air.

He felt a distant rumble under his feet then. Several things seemed to happen all at once. The leaves of the solitary tree in the distance stopped fluttering in the wind as though they had been turned off. He felt a sudden chill in the air. The bird started to fly away rapidly. Unthinkingly, he turned his head a fraction to follow its movements.

That was when he became aware of the big rock that was hurtling towards him. It was so out of the blue, that he was completely stunned. He stared at the rock transfixed as it generated more momentum and thundered downwards. As it loomed closer, he felt unable to even avert his eyes.

He cringed. At the last moment, the boulder hit a small out cropping, deviated a bit from its original path and crashed loudly just about two feet away from him, carrying a part of the rocky path along, as it rolled further down along the hillock.

The man had never had a near death experience before. The shock was still too much for him to completely appreciate his good fortune. He continued to watch the rapid descent of the rolling boulder almost involuntarily. He watched it wide eyed as it crashed and displaced a group of huge rocks, a short distance below him. And these in turn, gathered more stones and rubble as they tumbled downwards. Horrified, he saw a rocky landslide form right before his eyes.

He remembered the town suddenly. It was directly in the path of the land slide.

The scene that followed was something out of a nightmare. The magnitude of destruction of the town was enormous. The group of rocks which had been displaced caused the most damage. He could very realistically feel the angst and pain of the townspeople. He could almost hear their screams. The din and clamor was deafening in his ears. The scene was just too much to take in.

Within a few seconds, a huge cloud of raised dust blocked his view. There was a lull that followed. He shut his eyes tightly as if to block the scene from his eyes. After what seemed like a long time, he opened his eyes.

He could not believe what he saw.

The scene in front of him was as picturesque as it was before. The town was nestling safely next to the blue lake. The bird was still lazily circling in front of him. He could once again make out all the color on its feathers.

This time, the man laughed out loud in sheer relief. He realized that he had not breathed in a while now. He gulped in large amounts of air and sighed as he slowly felt his nerves calm. He wiped the tears blinding his eyes and gazed at the town with new-found fondness.

After a while, he turned, looked at the unbroken path in front of him and debated whether to continue his climb.

He felt a cold draft of wind at the back of this neck. The bird froze in mid air.

The man rapidly walked forward two feet. And then stopped.

He felt a distant tremor under his feet. He looked up just as he felt a chill in the air. He caught one last glance of the bird before it rapidly flew away. He smiled.

A tall pedestal stands there on the hillock today. The structure has been built entirely by the huge boulder that crashed into the lake. The townspeople call it ‘The Shrine of the Savior’.

The man followed the old geezer. The old man limped, probably from a bullet wound. It was hard to say, as most of his left leg was swathed in old bandages that looked like they hadn’t been changed in years. They walked in silence. The path they trod did not seem oft visited. But it seemed that the old timer knew exactly where he was going. They kept good time regardless of his limping.
The man bowed his head and thought. It had been about two years ago that he had taken on this mission. His peers hadn't wanted him to. They had more or less accepted that his captured partner would have been killed by now. And even if he wasn't, the chances that he could be found, and if found, that he would still be sane were very slim at best. But the man couldn't be persuaded against. He and his partner had always worked as a team. They were the best agents the company ever had. If there was any chance of rescuing the captive, he was their only shot.

The man had left no stone unturned. The capturers knew his comrade was very valuable. And his whereabouts had been kept very private. But years of doing what he did, finding people with information, and extracting it came as a second nature to him. But this time around though, it hadn't been easy at all. He was one of the top in his line of work, and it had taken him this long to find this place.

He had found the old man in the smallish village at the foot of the small dense hillock, they were presently walking through. The old man was the only one who seemed to have some idea of where the building was, which through the fragments of information the man had obtained, was most probably where his friend was being held.

The old man turned sharply to the left and pushed through an overgrowth of vegetation, and in a clearing, hidden from the path, there was a creepy, medium sized building. It appeared self sufficient from the looks of it. There was a water pump, a generator, cut up wood. But it looked deserted and seemed out of use for months now.

Mostly by habit, the man circled the place once slowly. He found no signs of recent human activity anywhere around. He entered the building and quickly scanned all the rooms. It appeared there had been about three people, mostly guards.

This definitely felt like the right place.

He discovered the hidden door behind the wardrobe quite easily. He had noticed the faint scratch marks on the floor the moment he'd walked in. He shoved the wardrobe aside, picked the lock, and walked down the dark staircase that followed.

There was a very heavy iron door with a huge bar keeping it closed at the end. There was a small latched opening at the bottom which he assumed was for passing a tray of food and water.

He lifted the bar and pulled mightily at the door. It creaked and opened slowly. He stepped inside.

It was the gloomiest room he had ever seen. There was no source of light except a very small opening almost close to the ceiling. There were broken pieces of what might have been a table or a chair once. There were a few threadbare rags in a corner. The rough stone walls all around felt creepy and cold.

There were two things that drew his attention though. One was the faint blood stains on the floor and the wall. It seemed it had been hastily cleaned up after, but he knew where to look, and he found them without much difficulty. The other item of intrigue was a strange contraption that was made of pieces of wood and cloth. It was hanging from an out jutting in the stone wall. It looked like a pouch, with some sort of a lid.

He walked a couple of steps and looked inside it. It was empty save for some minute bread crumbs at the bottom. He shut the lid and looked around the stone walls once more, taking in everything. The he closed his eyes. He thought.

The pattern of the faint blood stains indicated a fight. A fight indicated that his partner had escaped, or at least tried to. But this was a perfect locked room mystery. There was only the iron door and no other points of entry or exit. This did not seem like a place of interrogation, and since it appeared that the prisoner was being held here the whole time, there was no need for any guard to enter the room. He opened his eyes. They rested on the pouch which was swinging back and forth gently

And then it hit him. He smiled for the first time in years.

He heard a sound and turned around and saw that the old man had followed him and was peering interestedly into the room.

The man asked the old geezer ' 'So, partner what did you do for water?'

The old man gaped and stared at him wide eyed for a few seconds. Then he grinned hugely. He stood up straight and stretched his limbs. He took a cloth and rubbed his face clean. He cast his wig aside and ran a hand through his hair, grinning still. The change was astounding. No one would have believed that he had been a septuagenarian seconds ago.

He stared questioningly at the man, and shook his head in resignation when the man pointed in the direction of the faint blood stains.

'And?' he said.

'And this, here'- the man said, pointing to the pouch ''There is no way that you would have been given so much bread every day, that you needed something of this sort to store it in. You ate only a part of the bread and stored the rest here for sometime, didn't you? And when you had sufficient amount stored, you probably started eating less and less each day, and leaving the rest in the tray. And then, probably, you completely stopped eating the bread given to you. The guards then would have had to come in to investigate or throw your dead body out. That's how you escaped, right?'

The look on his partner's face confirmed his theory.

The man smiled again. 'But water would not have lasted all that long. What did you do for that?'

His partner bent down and lifted a piece of broken wood, and went to the far side of the room, speaking as he went. 'Knew I should have cleaned up the stains better, but I wanted to get out of this place pretty bad by then.' He pushed the wood between two stones in the wall and slowly water began to flow along the length of the wood. 'Slightly cracked a water pipe', he said, cupping the water flowing in his hands. 'Discovered it within the first month in this hole itself'

He turned around and faced the man- 'By the way, how did you know it was me? I thought the disguise was perfect. Not one single guy in the whole village had the faintest idea.'

'You can't disguise a person's eyes', the man said. 'And also you have been limping on the wrong leg ever since I met you, partner.'

The man knew this place like the back of his hand. He probably could sketch each rock, every tree, the anthills present here from memory. He trod the pathway unfeelingly today. Mechanically. Noticing nothing. His legs carried him without any conscious effort on his part.He swayed a little as he walked. He gripped the bottle in his hand tighter. It had been a long time since he had been to this place. He stopped a moment and took a deep swig of liquor from the bottle.

Random scenes started floating in his memory. He started to walk without realizing again. He had always been lonely in his life. But he had never felt alone. It was only after he got married and had his first child, he had realized that his life had really been empty till then. He was happy for the first time in his life.

The scenes in his head ware clear and the images lifelike. He was holding and feeding his
son while the toddler was gazing at the moon. He was holding his kid's hand as he walked his first steps. He was blowing air into the wheels of the tricycle, as the child impatiently danced around him. He was teaching him the alphabet from a ridiculously huge chart. He was trying
to explain division as repeated subtractions. He was correcting the loops in the 'g's and the 'y's in the boy's cursive writing book. He was waving his son a bon voyage, as he left with his mother on a ship - a trip on the sea - which had always been the boy's dream; using all
the strength he could muster to keep his tears hidden. He could, as clear as day, hear his son's choked voice assuring him that he would explain in detail every little thing that occurred on the trip. He could see his wife smiling, as she put an arm across their son's shoulders. He was watching as the ship drifting away beyond the horizon.

The images became muddled and blurry then. It was like in a tragic movie fast forwarded. Headlines from various papers about the shipwreck. Delays in the search and rescue teams. Body counts. Missing people. His son and his wife among the feared dead list. Mourning and cries. His first drink. His tenth. His hundredth

The cold sea breeze hit him then. That broke the images and brought him to the present like magic. He stared into the calm sea for a while. His mind was surprisingly clear for the first time from a long time now. He had always loved this beach. He had fallen in love with this place about the same age that his son had. The family used to come here as often as they could. This was a secluded and an unheard of place. It always felt peaceful here. He felt that he belonged again. The raising and falling of the waves calmed him. He stood there for a long time. He slowly began to feel that he could heal. That, at last, he could accept that his family was gone.

By force of habit, he raised the bottle to his mouth. The moment the liquid touched his lips, he felt disgusted with himself. His child would not want to see his father like this. No one would. He had let his sadness ruin his life long enough. He ran a few steps on the sand and threw the bottle as far as he could into the sea.

He felt strangely light. He took a huge breath and exhaled slowly. He could feel the pain of his loss start to ebb away slowly. He sat down on the beach and looked at the reflection of the moon on the waves in the distance transfixed. The waves lapped at his feet every now and then. He felt that he was a part of nature.

After a long time he decided to leave. He would change everything. The beach had done him a world of good. But there were just too many memories here. He decided that he would go to a far off place and start a new and sober life all over again.

He stood up and turned around. The bottle lay in his way again. The sight of it somehow made him angry. He picked it up, all set to throw it into the sea again.

But this bottle felt different. It felt slightly old. He looked at it. It was opaque, dark and corked. It was not the same bottle that he had thrown away. He pulled the cork off, and realized that it had a letter within.

The moonlight was not really bright. But the man didn't really need anything more. He did not even need to read till the end of the letter.

It started ' 'To Daddy '.

He could recognize the loop of the letter y in his sleep.

The stick spun and twirled. It fell far for such a simple flick of the hand. The dog was after it in a flash. It picked the stick up and brought it back to its master. The general took the stick from its mouth and looked at it fondly. The dog never failed him. It was the only living thing that he trusted. He kept his distance from everyone else. That was what made him so efficient. So ruthless. So dangerous.
The man, spying at the general from outside, took out a cigarette from his pocket, threw it up and caught it in mouth. He lit the tip with his lighter. He was an assassin hired to kill the general. He felt this assignment was going to be particularly easy. He watched the general get into his car with the dog. A posse of four guards led the car in the front. He looked at his watch needlessly. He could have sworn it was 10: 30 am in the morning. The general was a machine. Everything around him worked like clockwork. That was going to be his downfall. The man took one last drag at the cigarette and flicked the stub away.

The man walked away slowly. Head bent in thought. Replaying the events in his mind. Tomorrow was the day. He was prepared. This certainly was going to be very easy.

He was in his position a little early. He had planned an all out attack. There was no need for him to find a secluded place from where he could choose to snipe unnoticed. Secrecy or delicacy weren't the issue here at all. The people who'd hired him only wanted his assignment done. He promised results. The methods that were used immaterial.

There were only four guards and he would take them all out. The amount of time it would take for any other back up to arrive for help, was more than enough to make his getaway. With practiced dexterity he replaced the existing magazine in the gun with a new one, patted his overcoat to see if the explosives were still there, patted the other side to check for his knife and extra magazines, and mentally checked that the other gun was still in his right sock. He would not need to use any of the others except the gun in his hand. This was just force of habit.

He still had some time to kill. He lit a cigarette and waited.

And exactly at 10:30 am, as predictable as day, the general got into the car. His dog followed him in. The posse of guards got on their bikes. The man took a deep breath and stepped forward, his weapon already in firing position. The moment all four bikes and the front of the car came into his shooting range, he started to shoot. He reeled off six shots in a matter of three seconds. Every one of them hit home. The four guards fell before knowing what hit them. The chauffeur was slumped over the steering wheel, with a hole in his forehead. The man covered the distance between him and the open rear window of the car within the next two seconds, so that the general could see who his assassin was. That was his trademark. He made sure that the last thing that his victims saw before they died was his face.

He pointed the gun at the general and expressionlessly pulled the trigger. The gun clicked hollowly. Taken aback, he clicked thrice in succession. The gun was completely jammed. Nothing like this had ever happened before. Time slowed to the point of being completely still. The general recovered form the shock remarkably fast. A gun materialized in his hand suddenly, as if by magic. He fired once. The man felt the bullet thud just below his chest. He stepped backward half instinctively, half by the force of the bullet. The general fired again. The man felt the bullet enter his thigh this time. He was now falling backward in slow motion. After what seemed like an infinite time he hit the ground. The man was completely on auto-pilot now. In a daze he tried to reach for the gun in his socks. Bending over that much with a bullet in his stomach felt impossible. Automatically he removed a stick of explosive from his waist, lit the tip with his cigarette lighter, and threw it into the car through the open window ' all in one movement.

All this had probably taken less than a few seconds. It felt like hours to the man.

The explosive fell on the seat next to the general. It still hadn't gone off. Blindly the general picked it up and threw it back out of the window. The man followed the parabolic trajectory of the explosive from the car to where it fell just out of reach of his hands. He vaguely remembered that he should be having sights of his whole life flash before his eyes, at times like these. It seemed slightly ridiculous that the only thing he could think about was how he was watching his own end in slow motion.

The dog jumped out from the open window in a flash. It picked up the explosive stick, jumped back into the car and brought it back to the general.

The dog never failed him.

What is ‘Culture’? This question may bring forth several responses. ‘Culture is that which makes life worth living’.'Culture is not merely the sum of several activities but a way of life’.
‘Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of the society.’
‘Culture is that which being transmitted orally by tradition and objectively through writing and other means of ex-pression enhances the quality of life through meaning and value by making possible the formulation, progressive realization, appreciation and achievement of truth, beauty and moral worth.’

These explanations and several others in this genre are true individually, but none of them can be said to capture the meaning of ‘culture’ completely. In other words, it is obvious that the word ‘culture’ defies a simple definition.
A set of cultural traits adopted by a group ‘to meet its needs and ensure its survival’ constitutes its culture. In this sense, culture could be associated with a nation, town, village or tribe.
From this perspective, what is Indian Culture? Is it possible to identify the elements of Indian Culture which transcend the barriers of time and space? Are there unifying forces in Indian Culture in spite of apparent differences in race, language, religion, customs, and traditions in this vast and ancient country?
According to Mr. K. M. Panikar - ‘India has a life view of her own, a special outlook on essential problems, which has persisted throughout her history and would hardly be denied by anyone.’
Mr. Panikar also identifies the following as some of the outstanding factors of the Indian Culture:
1. The tradition of tolerance adding to the richness and variety of Indian life
2. The sense of synthesis as reflected in racial harmony, the primary institutions of the village and family, architecture, sculpture, music and painting, modes of worship, faith in democratic institutions etc.
3. The universal outlook reflected in views such as - the world is one family.
4. The philosophical outlook
5. Respect for the individual based on the philosophical equation of Atma and Brahma

Indian culture has survived because in every generation the best among us have lived by certain fundamental values. We see many examples of this in our history. Starting from the rishis in the Vedic period, we see several divine personalities like Mahavira, Buddha, Ashoka, Shankara, Madhvacharya, Krishnadevaraya, Akbar, Basava, Guru Govind Singh, Gandhi etc. who have spread these values through their preachings and examples.
The first value which underlies our culture is the faith in the Moral and Spiritual order. The Vedic sages called it Rita but later it was called Dharma. Age after age refinements were made in this concept but the faith has persisted in our people.
Rita is universal order, material, moral and spiritual which unfolds life. Satya or truth is its personal aspect, to live up to it through knowledge, devotion and action becomes a paramount demand on the sensitive individual who finds fulfillment by living up to it.
Satya in the sense of absolute sincerity, unity of thought, word and deed is not to be cultivated in a cave, or in a place of pilgrimage. It has to be lived in every action, in every occasion and every relationship.
The other value is dedication, surrender of the ego to God (Samyama). By living a dedicated life the individual recaptures the values for his own generation and passes it on as a legacy to the next one.
The third greatest value is consecration of life (Samarpana). Rigid asceticism is not consecration. Giving up life to find permanent salvation is not consecration. In order to realize consecration an individual needs to lead a full life in which every act comes to be consecrated as an offering to God.
In order to live up to these values in individual and collective life desire, greed, malice, anger, hatred have to be converted to noble aspirations.
Our religious tolerance and love for peace have been the natural outcomes of these values.
The legacies of Indian Culture based on these values upheld generation after generation in all aspects of human endeavors is so enormous that any attempt to list them all would certainly be futile.
Indian culture has always been dynamic and open. Its innate strength is evident in the outcomes of the interactions with various other tribes. Indian Culture has received, adapted and digested elements of different cultures like Indo-European, Mesopotamian, Iranian, Greek, Arabian, Roman and has changed little with each influence. But Indian Culture will retain its continuity. The Bhagwad Gita will never cease to inspire men of action and Upanishads the men of thought. The charm and the graciousness of the Indian way of life will continue. Be it religion, philosophy, maths, commerce, art, architecture, music, painting, or any other enterprise the impact of the Indian Culture is easily discernible even in the global content.

Census is the total process of collecting, compiling and publishing demographic, economic and social data pertaining at a specified time or times to all persons in a country or delimited territory. Census of India 2001 is the fourteenth of the uninterrupted series (once in every ten years) which began in 1872. The census of India 2001 is carried out in two phases. The first phase is the House Listing Operations. This was conducted from April to September 2000. The second phase is the Population Enumeration. This was conducted from the 9th to 28th February 2001. The reference ‘Census moment’ indicating the population of our country was 0.00 hours of 1st March 2001.The first phase of Census of India 2001 began with the House Numbering Operations in which all the houses and structures were affixed a number and listed out in a systematic order. This was followed by the House Listing Operations in which information about the material used for construction, condition of the building, purpose for which it was built etc. from each building is collected. If the building is used for residential purposes a wide ranging set of information that throws light on the quality of life of the residents is collected. This data would provide a benchmark to study the quality of life, housing stock in different parts of the country etc.

The utility of the information generated during this phase can be summarized as follows:
* It enables to ensure complete coverage if the geographical area of the country during Population Enumeration in 2001.
* It helps to asses and estimate the quality of life of people of India, which is reflected by the availability or non-availability of amenities in each household
* It is useful to find out the number of housing units - residential and non-residential in the country. It also helps to find out the purpose for which they are used.
* It is useful to identify geographical areas at different levels of development. This can be utilized for preparing development plans for specific areas and for specific amenities.
* It helps to generate statistics on the industries connected with production, marketing, and other related areas for the above items.

The major Census operation - Population Enumeration is aimed at collecting information regarding a wide range of subjects from every person. For this purpose the census authority has come up with a questionnaire consisting of three parts. The first part concerns the location particulars of the person. The second part is about individual particulars. It contains 23 questions out of which 15 questions are connected with general and socio-cultural characteristics like religion, sex, mother tongue, literacy status, disabilities etc. 5 questions are connected with the economic status of the person like- is he/she is/was a worker, economic activity etc. 2 questions concern migration characteristics. The remaining question is on fertility (for women only). The third part is meant for households engaged in cultivation and has questions like fertility of the soil, area of land under them etc.

The information collected will be tabulated to provide a static view on the demographic, social, cultural, and economic condition of the people. The statistics obtained would be useful to undertake a comparative evaluation with similar statistics returned with earlier censuses.

For all this procedure the total cost is estimated to be over Rs.1000 crore. The total process includes printing of over a billion questionnaires and the consumption of over 10,000 tons of paper. Around 2 million enumerators, drawn from the ranks of school teachers and government employees are pressed into service to interrogate 20 million households. Why do we go through this gigantic exercise? It is because a census is the most reliable pointer to the nation’s development.

The census data is indispensable for social and economic planning of the country. The planning commission utilizes the census data on the distribution of population by age, sex, classified by rural and urban areas, cities, town areas, and social groups to analyze the growth of consumer demand and savings in the process of development. An analysis of the areas of different population size with different characteristics certainly serves as a basis for government plans and investigations in basic social capital. The data on economic activity and education levels of the individual as collected in the census is very important for manpower planning. The housing needs can also be accurately estimated. Besides all these, the census data can prove very helpful in the formulation of policies on education, health, agriculture, food, development of road, rail transport etc.

The population census provides the basic data for administrative purposes. One of the most basic administrative uses of census data is the demarcation of constituencies, the allocation of representation, and reservations for SC/STs on governing bodies.

The population data has many important uses for business and industry. Reliable estimates of consumer demand for a variety of goods and services depend on accurate information on the size of the population and its distribution at least by age and sex, since these characteristics heavily influence the demand for housing, furnishing, clothing, recreational facilities, medical supplies and so forth.

The census provides reliable basis for scientific analysis and appraisal of the composition, distribution and past and prospective growth of the population. The changing patterns in the urban - rural concentration, the development of urbanized areas, the geographic distribution of population, social and economic characteristics of the population are the questions of vital interest in economic planning and development evaluation.

It is important to remember that the utility of the census is completely dependent on its accuracy. In order to facilitate the citizen to volunteer information fearlessly, the government of India guarantees to protect the privacy of the information provided by the citizens. It also guarantees that the census information given by any citizen cannot be used in any court of law against the citizen. In a country where illiteracy is widespread, it is necessary for the Census Enumerators to impress among all the individuals the utility and the need for accuracy in the census operation. All of us can contribute to the development of the country by spreading this message far and wide and helping in the successful conduct of Census 2001.

PS:
* This essay was originally written when I was in the ninth standard. That was before the Census 2001 actually had happened. Thus the usage of future tense in a few places.
* This essay won the first prize in the competition. The prize distribution ceremony was in Tumkur. I had been there with my dad. Since we reached early, we had been to a cousin’s place that was close by. I recall playing a really memorable game of chess that lasted for over 4 hours. That was the highlight of the day.
* The actual event was a drab. Iron chairs and a dusty room with no more than 8 people. The prize was a set of the small green books on Gandhi’s principles packaged inside a TITAN watch cover box.

The greenhouse effect is a naturally occurring process that results in the heating of the earth's surface and atmosphere. This is due to the particular property of certain atmosphere gases like carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane etc. These gases allow the heat from the sun to reach the earth but absorb some of the outgoing heat energy, as the heat radiated by the earth is at a lower frequency than that of the incident energy. This is somewhat like the action of glass panels in a glass house. Without this natural green house effect, temperatures on earth would have been much lower and life would not have been possible. Due to this effect, earth's temperatures are more hospitable at about 15C instead of -18C.The matter of concern now is that since the industrial revolution, the atmospheric concentrations of these gases are on the rise. Over the past three centuries, atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide have increased 30 % (from 280 ppm to 360 ppm), methane concentrations have more than doubled (from 0.7 ppm to 1.7 ppm), and nitrous oxide compounds have risen by 15 % (280 ppm to 310 ppm). In the absence of emission control policies carbon dioxide concentrations are projected to b 30 '" 150 % higher in 2100 than today's levels. The other gases involved in the green house effect are chlorofluorocarbons and tropospheric ozone. Of all the green house gases, carbon dioxide accounts for 55% of the enhancement in the earth's green house effect. The contributions of other gases are: 25% by chlorofluorocarbons, 15% by methane, 5% by nitrous oxide. Ozone's contribution to the enhancement of greenhouse effect is yet to be qualified.
Why are the greenhouse gas concentrations increasing? Scientists generally agree that the combustion of fossil fuels and other human activities are the primary reasons for this increase. The concentrations of carbon dioxide have increased due to several activities of humans after the industrial revolution. The major causes for the increased emission of this gas include (i) combustion of fossil fuels by industries, transportation, space heating, electricity generation, cooking (ii) vegetation changes in natural pairs, woodland and forest ecosystems. Emission from fossil fuel combustion accounts for 65% of the extra carbon dioxide now found in the atmosphere. The remaining 35% comes from the conversion of prairie woodland and forested ecosystems primarily into agricultural systems, as natural ecosystems can hold 20 '" 100 times more carbon dioxide per unit area than agricultural systems. The major reasons for the additional methane in the environment are rice cultivation, domestic grazing animals, termites, land fills, coal mining, oil and gas extraction etc. The causes for the increase in nitrous oxide concentrations are land use conversions, fossil fuel combustion, biomass burning, soil fertilization. Most of the nitrous oxide added to the environment comes from deforestation and conversion of forest, savanna, grassland ecosystems into agricultural fields and range land. Both of these processes reduce the amount of nitrogen stored in the living vegetation and soil through the decomposition of organic matter. Greenhouse gases that are not naturally occurring are chlorofluorocarbons. They are byproducts generated by industrial processes such as foam production, refrigeration and air conditioning. Each greenhouse gas differs in its ability to absorb heat in the atmosphere. Chlorofluorocarbons have the highest capacity. Methane traps over 21 times more heat than carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide absorbs 270 times as much as carbon dioxide.

The increase in the concentration of these greenhouse gases in the environment, also increases the heat trapping capacity of the earth, which effects many factors like temperature, precipitation, sea level, climatic condition etc. Global temperatures are found to be rising. Observations collected over the last century suggest that the average land surface temperature has risen by about 0.45C '" 0.6C. Predictions of future climate indicate that by the middle of the next century earth's global temperature may be 1C '" 3 C higher than today. Precipitation has increased by about 1% over the world's continents in the last century. High latitude areas are tending to see more significant increases in rainfall, but in some places precipitation has decreased too. These dry areas may become drier and wet areas wetter. Dude to the increasing global temperatures, the sea level has risen approximately 15 '" 20 cms in the last century. Approximately 2 -5 cms of this rise has resulted by the melting of the mountain glaciers. Another 2 '" 7 cms has resulted by the expansion of ocean water that results in warmer ocean climate. Rising sea level inundates wet lands and other low lying lands, erodes beaches, intensifies floods, salinity of rivers, bays and groundwater tables.

Greenhouse effect may also alter the regional climate, which in turn could alter forests, crop yield, water supplies, harm birds, fish and many types of ecosystems. Hurricanes, El-nino effects, forest fires are likely to become more frequent and severe as the earth becomes warmer. Throughout the world the prevalence of a particular disease and other threats to human health depend largely on the local climate. Extreme temperatures can directly cause the loss of life. Moreover, several serious diseases occur only in warm areas. Warm temperatures can increase air and water pollution which in turn harms human health. Higher air temperatures increase the concentration of ozone at ground level. The natural layer of ozone in the upper surface of the atmosphere blocks the harmful ultra violet radiation from reaching the earth's surface, but in the lower atmosphere ozone is a harmful pollutant. It damages lung tissue, and causes particular problems for people with asthma and other lung diseases.

However, it must be pointed out that there is so unanimity in the scientific community regarding the impacts of the greenhouse effect. Figuring out to what extent the human induced accumulation of greenhouse gases since pre-industrial times is responsible for the global warming trend is not easy. This is because other factors, both natural and human affect the planet's temperature. When the American Association for the Advancement of Science tried to get all the world's leading climatologists to sign a paper affirming global warming, only 1% signed. In Leipzig, Germany at a global conference 80% of the climatologists said that there was not enough evidence to prove global warming.

There are scientists who believe that alternate scenarios could also emerge. One such argument is that, even though some areas may get affected by the sea rise, farming areas may open up farther north and areas like Russia could benefit. Farmers in Canada could have a longer growing season. Hence from an overall perspective the human race may gain rather than lose due to this effect. Another interesting view is that, we are presently in an interglaciar period of an ice-age. The interglaciar period started 16,000 years ago, and may soon be about up, with a return of glaciers covering the lands. If this was really correct, then rising seas does not seem as bad as glaciers marching towards lands and wiping out countries as they flow down south. Global warming may well prevent the ice age from returning. A third argument goes like this: if the Arctic cap melted, the sea level would not rise one inch because the Arctic ice is floating on the water just like an ice cube in a glass. Greenhouse effect warns of a 3C '" 5C average temperature rise but it would take a 55C rise worldwide for 1000 years to melt the ice of the Antarctic. Finally the Sun heats the earth and not man. The Sun's energy changes not only in short term sun-spot cycles, but also in long term 200 year cycles. According to fossil evidence the Sun is entering a cooling period that should max about the beginning of the 22nd century.

It is true that a section of scientists have identified that our health, agriculture, water, resources, forest, wild life, and coastal areas are vulnerable to the changes that global warming may bring. But projecting what exact changes will be over the 21st century remains very difficult. This is especially true, when one asks how a specified local region will be affected. Some of the greatest uncertainties are associated with events that pose a great risk to human societies.

Even with all these diverging views, we know for certain that human activities are changing the composition of the earth's atmosphere. It is well accepted that greenhouse gases trap heat in the earth's atmosphere and tend to warm the planet. By increasing the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, human activities are strengthening earth's natural greenhouse effect.

True, there is no unanimity regarding the impact of Greenhouse Effect. Yet, there is no reason for us to be complacent about it. It is necessary to recognize that Greenhouse Effect is the manifestation of our activities upsetting the equilibrium of the earth's atmosphere. We have to be proactive in maintaining its delicate balance. Afforestation and decreasing our dependence on fossil fuels based energy are the two major principles that should drive our future actions. Governments should discourage deforestation and actively pursue an agenda of afforestation. Populations throughout the world need to be sensitized, so that afforestation becomes a mass movement and hence successful. Decreasing our dependence on fossil fuel based energy is possible through two main approaches. One is reducing our energy consumption through conservation. The developed countries who are mainly responsible for the green house effect must take the lead in this regard. Sometimes this may call for some life-style changes. But they should be made to understand that the sacrifices needed (for the life style changes) are a small price to pay in order to sustain life on our planet. The second approach is developing an environment friendly energy sources such as wind, solar, micro hydel systems. The government and scientific community must concentrate their effects in this direction.

Our understanding of the Greenhouse Effect has a very important message '"
Development is important, but what is more important is Sustainable Development.

PS:
* This essay was originally written when I was in the 9th standard.
* Everywhere in the essay, the degree part of the temperature needs to be assumed, as it is missing.
* This won the second prize in the essay competition conducted by IISc.
* Strangely, the results were announced and I got the award more than a year later. The only proof that I had got the second prize was a small piece of paper with the IISc stamp, with my name and II written on it. No idea what happened to it though.

He hated this place. He had been in the same apartment for longer than he could remember. The living room, the bedroom and the loo. This was his world.
And he was sick of it.

If there was one thing that he was tired of more, it was the people here, who thought they were his closest friends. They came often to the apartment. And these days they hung around longer than they usually did.

From his usual place in the middle of the sofa, he watched as one of them - an aged geezer in evening wear ' talk about the pesky kid in his neighborhood to the butcher. The butcher was as usual, wearing his apron around his ample waist, and the apron, as usual looked as it had just been washed off of a lot of blood. The butcher grunted a response. The story felt stale, as if the man had heard it before. Probably he actually had.

He looked around the apartment.

The young man in the suit sat reading the newspaper in the armchair, at the corner of the room. The young man seldom spoke to the group, and if he did, it was usually just pleasantries.

The door opened from outside. The young girl came in. This was his best part of the day. The girl looked beautiful. But then, she always did. The man liked her. She was nice to him. She smiled sweetly at him and said hello. She went into the bedroom, changed the sheets and collected the laundry for tomorrow. She put new groceries into the makeshift refrigerator in the living room. She checked that there was enough water in the apartment, and the room temperature was right. Then she sat next to him on the sofa, and chatted for a couple of minutes. Little nothings. But they
felt good all the same. She got up then, smiled again, wished him a good night and left.

Her perfume seemed to linger around the apartment for a long time after she left. He sat there with a small smile on his face.

He got up after sometime and walked to the window. The Sun was already below the horizon. Night seemed to fall quickly these days. He suddenly felt tired. He turned around.

The young man turned over another page in the newspaper. The butcher was animatedly describing something to the old geezer. None of them seemed to be in any hurry to go anywhere.

He sighed. He yawned and stretched his arms. He called aloud that he was going to call it a day. The young man nodded without looking up from the paper. The butcher turned and grunted his assent. The geezer mumbled something that sounded like good night.

The man walked to the bed room and lay down on the freshly laid sheets. There still were faint reminders of the girl here.

He hated this place. The girl was the only one who made this place livable.

The young girl walked out of the building. She went up to the guard in front and turned in her keys to the place. The guard thanked her, wished her all the best and buzzed the gate open. She nodded and stepped out.

The huge gray sign ' The Schizophrenic Institute for Terminal Cases - bleared dully back at her. She shivered involuntarily. She fleetingly felt sad for the lonely man who stayed in the apartment in the second floor. He was the only one in the whole building she could talk two words to. The other patients in the institute were too far gone. She shivered again.

She was glad that today was her last day of work here. She hugged the coat tighter to her body. She walked away without a backward glance.

She'd hated that place.