Malgudi series-8
Despite all the statistics i have mentioned above, i would like to share one thing " These statistics are the ones which are mis leading us and are meaningless sometimes !" know why ? because they don't say much ! yes , most of us read about all types of pollution right from primary school till college and even later on, but do nothing ! Does this syllabi " Inculcate love for nature ??? " A big no !
This was recently discussed in social media with reference to a white man's article on the subject, but this was told by a kannada writer by name " Poornachandra tejaswi " who himself was a avid bird watcher-photographer, writer of great prominence, fish catcher decades back !
Some of the species he observed were not reported anywhere and were new findings all together for instance in his " Parisarada kathe " a collection of his articles on nature, he reports observing an insect which folds the leaf quickly from the tree and throws it down which resembles paan ! Tejaswi wrote about science more than any scientist in the country, which he himslef called it a pity because subject matter experts can not only write authentically with their first hand experience but also can have solutions to the teething problems !
When i try to put down my thoughts on nature i am reminded of these beautiful and meaningful lines by one of the modern american poets joyce kilmer who says " I think i will never see a poem as beautiful as a tree !" this expression is just sufficient to understand what nature should mean to all of us.
A tree is not just a part of nature but nature itself ! Many of us argue that we don't see sparrows now a days because of the Radiowaves (radiations) out there but forget to realise we have cut down 80 % of the trees over the last ten years in our own garden city and many cities alike, the lakes which were 280 in early 1960's have dropped to meagre 40 today , out of which only 17 are in decent state !
The CO2 levels in places especially in the ORR (outer ring road) area is 50 % more than the rest of the city and the fluoride levels in borewell water is whooping 10 times more than the actuals, the ground water table has dropped from 100-150 feet in 1990's to 1000 feet today and most of the time smells sewage because of the unseen seepages where waste water percolates into the ground to join the fresh water stream !
Forget about mining or coal mafia , the water and sand mafia for consumption and construction respectively are more than any mafia we could think of which starts from the corporator level and ends in the corridors of the vidhana souda !
Forget about mining or coal mafia , the water and sand mafia for consumption and construction respectively are more than any mafia we could think of which starts from the corporator level and ends in the corridors of the vidhana souda !
It is really a pity that we drive cars alone and complain about traffic, throw garbage helter skelter and complain about cleanliness, we don't plant a seed but complain about cutting of trees, know so much about the no of tigers left or the percentage of forest cover dwindling year on year but never contribute in any way !
I remember as a child going to bannerghatta national park and at the very entrance they had a chart in which it was written " Lift this chart and you would see the most dangerous animal in the world ! ", i was curious and made all sought of guesses but could not resist , when i lifted the chart i saw myself in the mirror ! Probably till date this was the most eye opening slap i have ever got !
Despite all the statistics i have mentioned above, i would like to share one thing " These statistics are the ones which are mis leading us and are meaningless sometimes !" know why ? because they don't say much ! yes , most of us read about all types of pollution right from primary school till college and even later on, but do nothing ! Does this syllabi " Inculcate love for nature ??? " A big no !
This was recently discussed in social media with reference to a white man's article on the subject, but this was told by a kannada writer by name " Poornachandra tejaswi " who himself was a avid bird watcher-photographer, writer of great prominence, fish catcher decades back !
Some of the species he observed were not reported anywhere and were new findings all together for instance in his " Parisarada kathe " a collection of his articles on nature, he reports observing an insect which folds the leaf quickly from the tree and throws it down which resembles paan ! Tejaswi wrote about science more than any scientist in the country, which he himslef called it a pity because subject matter experts can not only write authentically with their first hand experience but also can have solutions to the teething problems !
Nowadays how many of our kids are passionate about trekking, mountaineering, swimming in the open, gardening, animal breeding or observing ? whose fault is it ? parents ? teachers ? society ? or nature ! We nowadays talk of saving nature , i don't understand what does that mean, we must instead be talking about saving ourselves because we are dependent on nature not otherwise !
We talk at length about innovation ecosystem, business ecosystem, political ecosystem etc. but never think of NATURAL ECOSYSTEM ! Development for us means widening of roads, building skyscrappers no matter the what happens to the sewage water disposal, we somehow think somebody else will do it for us and ironically so !
Centuries back forest's as Poornachandra Tejaswi puts it were a great mystery for the man kind, during the last century they were explored and exploited, now we have come to a stage where we have to allocate money in our budgets to save nature and forests !
The only welcoming thing for us is that in the last few years India is seeing a slight increase in the forest belt when the rest of the world is having a decreasing trend, but still China has 5 times more trees per person than India , US has 30 times more and cannada 250 times more ( Note : all these countries have 3 times more land area compared to India) ! we have a long way to go before catching up !
But its never too late as the poet puts it bluntly " Poems are written by fools like me, but only a wise man can plant a tree !" . It applies to me, this article and all of us !
The only welcoming thing for us is that in the last few years India is seeing a slight increase in the forest belt when the rest of the world is having a decreasing trend, but still China has 5 times more trees per person than India , US has 30 times more and cannada 250 times more ( Note : all these countries have 3 times more land area compared to India) ! we have a long way to go before catching up !
But its never too late as the poet puts it bluntly " Poems are written by fools like me, but only a wise man can plant a tree !" . It applies to me, this article and all of us !
So let's plant a tree and be wise so that the disappeared sparrows, mynas, humming birds and parrots will come back home, so that we can get up everyday listening to the chirping birds, so that we really become an active and contributing part of the nature !
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