Skip to main content

Is Your Family Breathing Clean Air?

This is a sponsored post for Eureka Forbes AeroGuard and was first published on MyCity4Kids.com



It was just a few days back that our social media feed was full of articles about severe air pollution in our capital city. We were all shocked when the Government declared the 'Delhi air pollution' as an emergency and schools were shut and construction work halted as harmful pollutants reached levels that were more than 16 times the safe limit! Hospitals in the city reported increasing number of patients suffering from respiratory diseases (of which India already has the highest rate in the world – with 159 deaths per 100,000 people even as early as in 2012 according to the World Health Organisation).
My little one came home from school one day that week saying they were told the news in their assembly that schools in Delhi would be shut for a week and demanding to know why. I told him it was because of the air pollution the city was facing and the smog that refused to clear. And to my shock and surprise he said, “Cool! So we should shut schools in Bangalore too!”
When asked for an explanation as to why he thought so he said; “...think about it, we too have cars that pollute the air in Bangalore and we too have construction going on everywhere; what’s more, schools in the city had even warned us during the Diwali season to not burst too many crackers as it is harmful for the environment in many ways! So then why is it that only schools in Delhi are shut and we have to go?”  Well, no doubt he had a point.
In fact, it was my little one himself, who had decided to have a cracker-free Diwali this year – the first ever year I did not buy or use crackers since my own childhood days, can you believe it! But that is beside the point...
What got me thinking was that he was speaking the truth! Air pollution in Delhi was in the news because it got to alarming levels, yes; but that did not mean that we, residing in other cities should not be worried about air pollution at all! We too – with our increasing use of automobiles and wood burning practices to stay warm in the harsh winters and garbage burning – are at equal, if not more risk of going the ‘Delhiway’ when it comes to air pollution! And that’s one scary thought…
Plus, here’s something that hits even closer to home – you see, I live in an apartment that is very close to a major roadway; connecting the townside with a some very important places in our city; and there’s not a minute in a day (not even at 2 AM in the morning) when there are no vehicles on this road. And that is what scares me the most! That my family could be breathing polluted air 24x7; and there is nothing I can do about it! Not to mention several people like me who live in similar situations and even those who are not as close to a road, maybe, but are still at the same risk; as air pollution is something that is widespread and has no barriers! Imagine the health hazards of air pollution this exposes our families to – the respiratory problems including Asthma this poor quality of air could cause in the long run (even more so with the ever present pollen in Bangalore air)!  
Now, I cannot single handedly control the air pollution on Bangalore roads, but I have heard about air purifiers; and how they can purify the air within the house; rendering it clean and healthy for breathing!  What makes these air purifiers even more attractive, is that they come from reputed companies that we have heard of since our own childhood days, such as Eureka Forbes! I still remember their Aquaguard ad that I knew by heart as a child; and am happy to know that they have come up with Dr. Aeroguard, an air purifier that suits every need and space with a focus on performance.

Knowing that someone so responsible claims to give my family the purest air to breathe gives me comfort beyond words... And while I truly believe that it is time we do what we can, even our tiniest bit, to control the pollution in our cities; it makes sense to purify the very air we breathe in our homes first, while we do that!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

A Break In The Pattern

The train stops. She looks around. It is a big station, large and open, nothing like the big city railway stations that she has seen. This station is surrounded by lush greenery as far as the eye can see. There is a chill in the air. And a sense of belonging. She breathes it in, deeply.  She walks towards the end of the platform to the foot-overbridge that will take her out of the station. A few taxis and auto rickshaws are lined up near the exit, and she hires one at random. The driver helps her stow her one bag near her feet, while she sits to one side of the wide seat, as if she is sharing space with someone. Because she is used to taking up only so much space – always in a corner, trying not to make her presence felt. Now as she thinks this, she moves a little towards the centre of the seat, as if to affirm to herself that she is now travelling all by herself, for the first time in her life. You wouldn’t really know it now, to look at her, but she is scared out of h...

The Past That Binds...

The sound of the raindrops hitting the window panes in a quiet residential part of a small town is so different from that in a big city. That is the thought in her mind now, as she looks out of her kitchen window. The trees around her property are thick and dark as they stand drenched in the heavy downpour. It is the second day in a row that heavy rains continue to lash their area. She has heard in the morning on the radio that the rain will continue for a couple more days. It is good, she thinks, that she has just picked up her groceries, having moved in only a few days ago.       From the small gap in the trees, she can see across to the blue-walled house, just as she could see as a child. It is drenched too. The creepers outside its kitchen wall making a brave attempt at holding on through the heavy downpour. She can see its kitchen window clearly from here. How amazing, she thinks, how few things change over a period of time, although everything is chan...

Start Over

The light was too harsh. Even at 2 am, when the world slept outside, oblivious to everything going on around him, that was the one thing Rahul noticed.  White, stark, bright light – illuminating even the tiniest of corners. Much like the last time he had been waiting in this space. No, not this. A similar space. He had decided never to go back there. And he hadn’t. He was hoping that would change the outcome this time. That it would make it different from what had happened the last time. He was hoping, that changing the place would ensure that his fate changed too. Although, it wasn’t merely the place that was now different. The nurse coming out of the operation theatre, at a run, broke his reverie. Rahul stood up to ask her how things were, inside. But before he could even manage an ‘excuse me, sister,’ she had run past him in her hurry. Rahul swallowed the rising panic in his throat and held on to the back of a plastic chair for support. The chair was bolted to...