All things plastic

Its interesting to note that we Indians have an OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) when it comes to using plastic in our lives.
We simply cannot live without it. There are many instances where it is indispensable and we have to thank plastics for that.
It is however very interesting to observe how we have extended the use of plastic in our lives.

Often we see cars being driven about, new cars especially, that still have their car seats wrapped in plastic covers they came with! I have a good friend whose car seats are still wrapped in the precious polymer even after a year of road usage!

A relative still has their sofa cushions wrapped in plastic! lest they become dirty!It actually does not seem to matter if the seats are uncomfortable to sit on! they should not become dirty!

Mobile phones are used without peeling off the sticky plastic it came with for protecting the screen! its alright if NOKIA is written boldly on it obstructing the screen view. I'm happy as long as it protects the screen from scratches! It is another matter that the keypads are already dirty from coming into contact with the my oily hands. The screen is still pristine you see!

My computer keyboard is wrapped in plastic and so is the desktop and my monitor! My shelves are lined with plastic sheets cut from food world covers and unused garbage bags!

My milkman likes to use plastic covers as caps to escape rain when he rides around in his 50k Honda motorcycle.

Even my money has become plastic thanks to cards! Now, the government is seriously considering discarding paper for plastic to print currencies! Better security , they say!

Local street-side food vendor uses plastic sheet over paper plates to guarantee purity of the plates!

The Bihari at the food restaurant round corner that serves Chaat food , wears plastic gloves(yes, not rubber) to make his preparations! Every five minutes he removes it to sneeze the phlegm off his nose and dons the gloves back on! Clean hands you see!

I also started using plastic plates and cups for the birthday parties, it can be recycled until my year old becomes thirteen you see and not to mention my yet to be one son! I'm looking at an returns several times over! who needs Styrofoam anymore Simble logic you see!

In my city, everyone and their mother-in-laws have an enviable collection of plastic covers stashed away in yet another big plastic cover! she uses it at every possible occasion. There is always a plastic cover for any activity. Be it stocking vegetables in the refrigerator or keeping the plant saplings until they become adults and claim their own piece of land in the garden!


When I was a child, I vividly remember Balamurugan, who used to wrap his note books in Milk covers and other such covers instead of brown paper! Lasts longer he'd say to my curious stares!
Today, brown paper is manufactured with a shiny plasticky coating on it! water-proof I heard!

The local vegetable market is always swathed in multiple hues ! Not because of the lovely green and red vegetables in the market, it is because the sun bathing the place in light through the huge multi-coloured plastic sheets that covered the area between the shops should it rain and chase away the buyers!

Even the asbetstos sheets are now plastic! So are the glasses I wear, smiles of the models on TV!
Boy! I cannot imagine what we'd do in India if we did not have plastic!