On Air
My Dad's nasal condition is the kind of thing you would only notice sitting beside him by the dinner table, counting seconds in between his labored breaths. Two operations in two years, yet zero progress. It is not because "Toshmi" graduates are inept at their work (maybe they are); but there is a different reason behind his medical mystery, the one that ties us all, Tashkent inhabitants, Uzbekistan folks. The cocktail of dust, exhaust, and whatever else our sky decides to hurl at us in these not-so-welcoming winter months---that is the problem.
Most of you here have experienced a winter or two in Tashkent, and the odds are high that there were instances when you had put on your mask so as not to blow in some chemical gas. Make no worries; I share the same suffering. Twenty cigarettes a day, experts calculated. I would argue it is more than that. Cigarettes can't cause skin irritation at least (the one I was not privileged to avoid). Even Ibn Sina saw it coming when he came up with that poppy quote: "If not for the dust in the air, humans would reach centuries of age."
The gist is that it is all not natural. We made it to ourselves. Pass by Mahtumquli Street, and you will see full-fledged industrial plants operating 24/7. The city itself is not meant to accommodate more than 3 million people, and there are probably more than 4 million souls searching living in this 30k-hectare circle. And with improper heating systems that come up every late November, regular folks have no choice but to rely on gas as the only means of heating their households. They are not doing it out of fun of course. People know the risks of using gas as a means of heating, but that remains the only choice. However, our keenly-educated officials keep delivering rather imprudent remarks on this matter. And the buildings? Ahh, the usual story: just for the looks, with zero damn given about the practicality. They can build hundreds of "NestOnes," but if IQ_AIR keeps indicating harmful levels of particulate matter in our skies, get ready to embrace that apocalyptic world from the Blade Runner.
This post is not intended to cast my negative emotions on any individual or group of individuals. I am just calling for awareness. Next time, it might be a better idea to post a story about the air quality instead of opening your Instagram camera every time a few snowflakes touch the streets of Tashkent. And my Dad? He is a regular user of Snoop now.
#yeah
My Dad's nasal condition is the kind of thing you would only notice sitting beside him by the dinner table, counting seconds in between his labored breaths. Two operations in two years, yet zero progress. It is not because "Toshmi" graduates are inept at their work (maybe they are); but there is a different reason behind his medical mystery, the one that ties us all, Tashkent inhabitants, Uzbekistan folks. The cocktail of dust, exhaust, and whatever else our sky decides to hurl at us in these not-so-welcoming winter months---that is the problem.
Most of you here have experienced a winter or two in Tashkent, and the odds are high that there were instances when you had put on your mask so as not to blow in some chemical gas. Make no worries; I share the same suffering. Twenty cigarettes a day, experts calculated. I would argue it is more than that. Cigarettes can't cause skin irritation at least (the one I was not privileged to avoid). Even Ibn Sina saw it coming when he came up with that poppy quote: "If not for the dust in the air, humans would reach centuries of age."
The gist is that it is all not natural. We made it to ourselves. Pass by Mahtumquli Street, and you will see full-fledged industrial plants operating 24/7. The city itself is not meant to accommodate more than 3 million people, and there are probably more than 4 million souls searching living in this 30k-hectare circle. And with improper heating systems that come up every late November, regular folks have no choice but to rely on gas as the only means of heating their households. They are not doing it out of fun of course. People know the risks of using gas as a means of heating, but that remains the only choice. However, our keenly-educated officials keep delivering rather imprudent remarks on this matter. And the buildings? Ahh, the usual story: just for the looks, with zero damn given about the practicality. They can build hundreds of "NestOnes," but if IQ_AIR keeps indicating harmful levels of particulate matter in our skies, get ready to embrace that apocalyptic world from the Blade Runner.
This post is not intended to cast my negative emotions on any individual or group of individuals. I am just calling for awareness. Next time, it might be a better idea to post a story about the air quality instead of opening your Instagram camera every time a few snowflakes touch the streets of Tashkent. And my Dad? He is a regular user of Snoop now.
#yeah