Earth Day
2011
22nd,April, 2011 (Yesterday) is EARTH DAY.
Wikipedia says – “Gaylord Nelson, a United States Senator from Wisconsin, called for an environmental teach-in, or Earth Day, to be held on April 22, 1970. Over 20 million people participated that year…”
From then on – we are celebrating Earth day every year on April,22nd.
But…let us face the Facts a little more frankly.
The earth is not in any danger. All that it ever had, it still has, and will continue to have, for ever. Matter, the earth’s property, cannot be destroyed by us!
So, what is the problem?
Man is digging his own grave. That’s the problem.
By all sorts of myopic, short-sighted (repetition for emphasis please), self-destructive, unthoughtful, risky, dangerous, catastrophic acts of his own, primarily, - man is creating an environment in which it is difficult for him to live, survive and thrive.
The Cockroach may still survive. Man may not. That’s the problem.
Earth has no Problems. It just has to revolve round itself and round the sun, to get all the energy it needs. Believe me – it has absolutely no problems. It is doing what it should.
But, you and I, neither revolve around our-self, nor around the earth, moon and sun, the trio who guard us – and therefore, we are in problem.
And, there are different types of problems, which either –
(i) we understand but ignore sheepishly, or,
(ii) we understand only partially and therefore are still curiously looking into what could be a huge time bomb ,or,
(iii) we don’t even know at all.
For the last type – ignorance is a temporary bliss. When it comes, we will any way know.
For the second type – a problem remains a problem, until we understand and attack and solve it! We must be doing that. Why we are not doing it right now is – we are divided into nations, religions, regions, colors, races etc – and, we look at our problems through these lenses, which distort the whole earth picture horribly.
A fellow producing a dozen or more children never understands that he must also plant green vegetation for a hundred people to take care of his progeny and their progeny, even in the short term (by earth’s standards).
Those who are selling non-green technologies to other countries never understand that air, water and everything else, after all, will travel back to them any way, may be, a few hours or days later.
The river is a natural phenomenon and must flow. If we stop at where it just starts, after millions of years of flow, the rest of the river, which has bred huge civilizations is not going to keep quiet. It will hit back, in ways unknown to us, when we least expect it. Take loving care of the river and our brothers on the other aside of our region; the river and earth will also take loving care of us. Else, the river and earth will hit back in ways unknown to us.
I am not saying, don’t do this or that.. Understand its full impact on the earth, on the things around, on ecology, on you and your brothers down the line – and do in such a way, that the earth is happy with you. Your brothers and ecology must also be happy with you. At the moment, this realization is very rarely present.
One stark reality before us today is – man’s overwhelming ambition is eating away his long-term wisdom. His intelligence, the short term intelligence, is unquestionable. But, his long term wisdom is – highly questionable today.
And, there are things which we understand and yet ignore sheepishly. There were cities which were called green cities, garden cities, and so on just a decade or two earlier also – but, there is no greenery there. We know it is wrong; yet we do it sheepishly.
As the Indira Gandhi Paryavaran awardee, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev says frequently – what you breathe out, the tree breathes in. What it breathes out, you breathe in. Your one lung is actually, physically there on the tree. Why are you cutting down one of your lungs?
If it is not sheepish and foolish, what else is it?
The Earth is not in any Danger.
You are. I am. Who amongst both of us is the culprit is immaterial. Both of us are in problem. The time bomb is ticking. Let us wake up.
Let us go out and plant a few trees in a hurry. There is really no time to lose.
Let us minimize the use of all plastics and go for bio-degradable products.
Let us go for harmless, long-lasting, green energies.
We have a tryst with the Earth – that we will ever live on earth; Either alive or dead; that is the choice.
Earth day 2012 is not far off – just one year ahead. Can each of us plant a few (say, ten !) trees, restrict human re-production to more manageable levels, ensure that river waters reach all people, and mother earth is pleased with us!
= yours
Vijayamohan. V
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