THE ART OF SHOE THROWING

Harish Bhat explores the finer aspects of the ‘art’ of shoe-throwing. The forgotten art of shoe-throwing has seen a dramatic revival. In earlier days, shoes were thrown after newlyweds for good luck. Thereafter, Nikita Kruschev taught us that throwing and banging shoes on the high table at the United Nations produces a remarkable effect. Imelda Marcos may have never thrown a shoe herself, but she owned hundreds of glorious pairs, and must have collected many more as her countrymen threw shoes at her in anger. Like all art forms, shoe-throwing has also evolved. In recent times, shoes have been thrown at US president George W Bush and India's homeland security minister P Chidambaram and other well-heeled personalities. For all aspiring practitioners of this splendid art form, here are some words of advice. Choose your shoe prudently. It is best to throw a shoe that you don’t really want. Alternatively, you could choose to throw your wife’s shoes: more choice there. The gender of the shoe is not really important, and indeed a good high heel can send a very potent message. You must practice the throw several times in advance — the idea is not to hit the target, but to just miss. My time-tested formula — grasp the shoe firmly, rotate your arm in a wide sweeping arc, sight the target and throw aiming exactly 17 inches to the left. If you are targeting a politician, increase this gap to 80 inches or more: they are known for constantly shifting positions. Throw both shoes. After all, what can you hope to achieve with the second residual shoe once the first has been taken away by the authorities? You could even throw your neighbour’s shoe if you wish. This requires a quick bending action and a sleepy shoe-clad neighbour. And finally, dont throw shoes for flimsy reasons as getting rid of your old shoes. Every shoe, however smelly or torn, must be thrown only for a great and noble cause

Who gets to "pick"? Al Gore or Baida Gaikwad ?

Times of India report from PUNE: "Don't burn our bread," urged Baida Gaikwad, a wastepicker from Pune, while expressing her concern over the use of Waste to Energy' (WtE) in
Germany. Baida addressed panels of trade unions and United Nations on the impact of WtE technologies on her livelihood and that of thousands of wastepickers across India, including 6,500 in Pune.

Baida, along with Poornima Chikarmane and Nalini Shekar of Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat (KKPKP), the Pune-based association for ragpickers, made a presentation at Bonn (Germany) Climate Change Talks - June 2009, organised by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Wastepickers in Pune are worried about the impact of the civic body's efforts to use quick-fix solutions like Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) to control the garbage processing menace, on their livelihood.

"The recycling sector provides livelihood and employment to about 1 per cent of the total population in developing countries. The workers in this sector live and work on the fringes of the economy. They go about their business of collecting paper, plastic, metal, glass and other recyclables. Their livelihoods are under threat from technology providers hawking quick-fix solutions, like RDF, plasma, pyrolysis, gasification and other euphemisms for incineration. Cloaked in the guise of renewable energy, they claim carbon credits for sending toxic gases into the atmosphere" said Laxmi Narayan of KKPKP.

KKPKP has 6,500 member of which 1,500 are also members of Solid Waste Collection and Handling (SWACH), an autonomous enterprise of waste-pickers.

PMC's plan to opt for RDF technology for processing garbage is meeting stiff resistance from environmentalists who have warned of hazardous consequences for health and environment.

December 2008 Comptroller Auditor General's report on Municipal Solid Waste in India recommends providing legal recognition to rag pickers so that recycling work becomes more organised and also ensures better work conditions for waste-pickers. RDF technology is inconsistent with the livelihood needs of the recycling workers. In fact, it destroys livelihood and poisons the food chain as has been witnessed in Gundhumguda, Andhra Pradesh, says New Delhi-based solid waste expert Gopal Krishna.

"The use of technologies, which displace wastepickers and threaten their livelihood, should be avoided as these technologies go against the principle of recycling because the incentive to segregate is absent," adds Laxmi Narayan.