Introduction: This is in accordance with my note Happy (?) New Year (http://mywilddiary.blogspot.com/2009/03/happy-new-year.html) dated 31st Dec '08.
Around 700-500 B.C: Valmiki wrote Ramayana.
12th Century A.D: The Chinese invented fireworks
21st Century A.D: Indians burst fire crackers on Diwali, as they believe that Lord Rama was welcomed in the same manner, when he returned to Ayodhya after his 14 years of exile.
Strange, isn’t it? Now read this-
1. In 2008, Kolkata experienced the warmest winter in 60yrs. Similar stories from many other cities.
2. Feb 2008: Temperatures in Mumbai plumett to below 10 degree C. Nearly unheard of in the past.
3. 2009 was one of the driest years in India with rainfall occurring infrequently and irregularly. Agriculture at stake.
4. Nagpur reported failure in blooming of oranges on account of abnormally less rainfall- another uncommon occurrence.
5. The most recent of all disasters- parts of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh & Goa flooded in Oct ’09.
This is one endless list of oddities!
Now isn’t this strange? It isn’t! Why? What else would you expect when we manipulate with the earth’s climate patterns; the way we did with our own mythology…only to meet our luxuries, our pleasures? So what’s the fate of our future? Aah! I just heard a boom outside my window!
Wake up! Climate change is real. Climate change is happening.
Even then, if today you burst a cracker and burn yourself up; I don’t care! What I care for is that the planet too will burn with you.
If today, you burst a cracker and get hearing impaired; I don’t care! What I care for are those around, whom we fail to understand. They can hear upto ten times better than us…I care for them.
If today, you burst a cracker and lose your vision; I don’t care! What I care for are those of your age, who lose their childhood; who lose their eyes, their limbs…or themselves, while making crackers for you.
As Channel V very fittingly put it up last year, “Diwali is a festival of light and not of sound”. Let it be so.Those who intend to stand by the message may well remove the ‘?’ from the title. For the rest- uncaring and sceptical types- I’ve just this one question to ask- “If you don’t care for the environment, to which planet do you belong?” (courtesy Greenpeace)
Friday, October 16, 2009
Monday, August 3, 2009
Harsh Realities- an insight into Speciesism
Today the Great Indian Bustard (GIB) Census kickstarted in Nagpur. And, Mother Nature, I reckon, chose this as an opportunity to teach me a lot more than just tracking a bird; to make me understand the harsh realities of the speciest society we live in, and what lies ahead in the fate of the victims of speciesism.
To hell with those who invented the word ‘humanity’ and to hell with the makers of the dictionary who assigned it the meaning ‘sympathy & kindness’. Humans, by nature are dominant and tyrannical. In its true sense, ‘humanity’ should ideally mean ‘domineering, devastating and destructive’. Here’s how I justify that through three misadventures of this fateful day.
Misadventure # 1: We were en route to Bhivapur- a village on Umrer Road, where we to start our search for the GIB. The highway wasn’t calm, but doves of all 4 species found in Nagpur flew onto it to peck or court, and flitted away just on time. The jeep behind us was honking. And one oblivious Red Collared Dove landed on the road ahead. We slowed down, and the jeep kept honking. In no time, it overtook us with a zoom…and white down feathers; many of them, frantically floated, searching for their owner, who they knew not, had started its flight towards heaven sans them.
Misadventure # 2: After a futile search at Vakeshwar, we decided to check on an unconfirmed GIB habitat on the Umrer-Butibori bypass. On a hillock at Umrer Road, we spotted a Great Horned Owl perched…unpeacefully. Reason? Three young men were attempting to capture it. The owl had taken cover in a short tree. Pretending to be officials from the Forest Department, we took photographs and names of the men involved and waited till they were sent off. Meanwhile, the owl after preening, had flown away to seek shelter in the cliff. Its behaviour suggested it had probably sustained minor injuries due to the stones pelted at it.
We were just on time. Seconds later, and the planet would’ve lost a precious denizen. More so, a precious resident for Umrer as it rids the farmers’ fields of rodents- a thought that seemed way beyond their understanding. People like us who protect wildlife for ethical reasons, had the feeling that an owl who had nothing to do with the street he overlooked; who knew nothing of the myth (read- crap) about Laxmi; who only wanted to have his world in an isolated cliff, feasting on all that he liked- was prized at lakhs of rupees at local / national markets for the (un)holy sacrifice to Goddess (?) Laxmi. Anyway, at the end of the day, the Great Horned lived to see another day. Wish the Russell’s Viper shared his fortune…
Misadventure # 3: Following local knowledge that the Hoom was mostly seen in the afternoon, we were back at Vakeshwar before evening. Fruitless, as it had seemed throughout the day, we had just withdrawn our search when we were alerted by the words, “Maaro! Lo maaro usko” By the time we turned around, three blows of a stick with an iron tip, had already been struck. We shouted to stop, horrified at the sight of the merciless final blow. “Kya hai?”..”Saanp”, wasn’t shocking to hear the simplicity with which it was said by the farmer. I immediately jumped to the spot. Dismal! “Russell’s Viper”, I said to Rohan and Haseeb in utter dismay. The following minutes passed in negotiating with the farmers. The snake wriggled its tail a bit…It was living to die. We tried all possible, polite explanations and when things turned sour, Rohan spoke his heart out. “Tum jaison ko goli se maar dena chahiye.” We had to reverse. Knowing they are pantheists, the least I could say before retreating was, “Shaap lagega aapko.”
I found nothing wrong in what Rohan said. What the farmers did was not an act of self-defence. It was tyranny, nothing else. The man who knew he was at least a hundred times taller than the little ‘creep’ that had crept in (only to indirectly help him) had his chance of expressing dominance over the fiercest snak which undeliberately kills over 7000 people a year in India. Three blows was all he needed. Since he had spotted it resting harmlessly, he could’ve scared it away; but wouldn’t that be too kind of a speciest? Even more disturbing is the thought of imagining the number of snakes which meet the same fate.
All the way, Rohan echoed, “In jaison ka koi ilaaj nahi. Yeh log laaton ke bhoot hai.” I agree. Things won’t be any better, ten years down the line. Speciesism won’t end. Casteism almost has, raceism will; simply because the victims can speak out. Speciesism can’t…not until we see an extinction of Homo sapiens.
P.S. Rohan & I abused a man for kicking a dog…Some things never change, you see!
To hell with those who invented the word ‘humanity’ and to hell with the makers of the dictionary who assigned it the meaning ‘sympathy & kindness’. Humans, by nature are dominant and tyrannical. In its true sense, ‘humanity’ should ideally mean ‘domineering, devastating and destructive’. Here’s how I justify that through three misadventures of this fateful day.
Misadventure # 1: We were en route to Bhivapur- a village on Umrer Road, where we to start our search for the GIB. The highway wasn’t calm, but doves of all 4 species found in Nagpur flew onto it to peck or court, and flitted away just on time. The jeep behind us was honking. And one oblivious Red Collared Dove landed on the road ahead. We slowed down, and the jeep kept honking. In no time, it overtook us with a zoom…and white down feathers; many of them, frantically floated, searching for their owner, who they knew not, had started its flight towards heaven sans them.
Misadventure # 2: After a futile search at Vakeshwar, we decided to check on an unconfirmed GIB habitat on the Umrer-Butibori bypass. On a hillock at Umrer Road, we spotted a Great Horned Owl perched…unpeacefully. Reason? Three young men were attempting to capture it. The owl had taken cover in a short tree. Pretending to be officials from the Forest Department, we took photographs and names of the men involved and waited till they were sent off. Meanwhile, the owl after preening, had flown away to seek shelter in the cliff. Its behaviour suggested it had probably sustained minor injuries due to the stones pelted at it.
We were just on time. Seconds later, and the planet would’ve lost a precious denizen. More so, a precious resident for Umrer as it rids the farmers’ fields of rodents- a thought that seemed way beyond their understanding. People like us who protect wildlife for ethical reasons, had the feeling that an owl who had nothing to do with the street he overlooked; who knew nothing of the myth (read- crap) about Laxmi; who only wanted to have his world in an isolated cliff, feasting on all that he liked- was prized at lakhs of rupees at local / national markets for the (un)holy sacrifice to Goddess (?) Laxmi. Anyway, at the end of the day, the Great Horned lived to see another day. Wish the Russell’s Viper shared his fortune…
Misadventure # 3: Following local knowledge that the Hoom was mostly seen in the afternoon, we were back at Vakeshwar before evening. Fruitless, as it had seemed throughout the day, we had just withdrawn our search when we were alerted by the words, “Maaro! Lo maaro usko” By the time we turned around, three blows of a stick with an iron tip, had already been struck. We shouted to stop, horrified at the sight of the merciless final blow. “Kya hai?”..”Saanp”, wasn’t shocking to hear the simplicity with which it was said by the farmer. I immediately jumped to the spot. Dismal! “Russell’s Viper”, I said to Rohan and Haseeb in utter dismay. The following minutes passed in negotiating with the farmers. The snake wriggled its tail a bit…It was living to die. We tried all possible, polite explanations and when things turned sour, Rohan spoke his heart out. “Tum jaison ko goli se maar dena chahiye.” We had to reverse. Knowing they are pantheists, the least I could say before retreating was, “Shaap lagega aapko.”
I found nothing wrong in what Rohan said. What the farmers did was not an act of self-defence. It was tyranny, nothing else. The man who knew he was at least a hundred times taller than the little ‘creep’ that had crept in (only to indirectly help him) had his chance of expressing dominance over the fiercest snak which undeliberately kills over 7000 people a year in India. Three blows was all he needed. Since he had spotted it resting harmlessly, he could’ve scared it away; but wouldn’t that be too kind of a speciest? Even more disturbing is the thought of imagining the number of snakes which meet the same fate.
All the way, Rohan echoed, “In jaison ka koi ilaaj nahi. Yeh log laaton ke bhoot hai.” I agree. Things won’t be any better, ten years down the line. Speciesism won’t end. Casteism almost has, raceism will; simply because the victims can speak out. Speciesism can’t…not until we see an extinction of Homo sapiens.
P.S. Rohan & I abused a man for kicking a dog…Some things never change, you see!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Greening Solutions- Let the Seed Sprout
Ever imagined a Nagpur sans oranges? Not until now, I bet. And from now on, you need not imagine as it is slowly but surely turning into a reality. With a failure in blooming of oranges coupled with the warmest and shortest winters in over 30 years, Nagpur is showing definite symptoms of a victim of anthropogenic (human induced) climate change. As the mercury maintains an arrogant stand close to 40 degrees C, and you beat the heat in the comfort of your ACs and water coolers (syn. to doing nothing!), here is your chance to bring in some hope; make an investment for the future.I have a neem tree in front of my house which bears fruits in summers. A sinful delight, it attracts bulbuls, mynas and koels. After a sumptuous meal, the birds visit my water cooler for a sip and subsequently vomit or defecate the seeds out. Here their role as seed dispersers (a job well done for thousands of years) ends. But having dropped the seeds on concrete, courtesy my home; the seeds do not sprout’ unlike what happens in nature where birds drop them on soil, until monsoon brings life to them. So, mine is a house which should not have been there, and so are many other Indian homes. This is where Nature hands over the baton to you. You simply have to collect the seeds, keep them dried till monsoon and eventually sow them. This is my 'Let the Seed Sprout' campaign. (read postscript)
At strategic locations, seed collections (for neem) can get higher than 50 (!), hence rooftops are the most convenient places to create nurseries. Birders to note- these are great haunts for wagtails. To make things ‘eco-friendlier’, you could devise methods for reusing or recycling water while watering the saplings. I placed a tankie under my water tank, wherein all the water that overflowed got collected in addition to some rainwater. This, I used to water my plants (it surely isn’t the most efficient of methods). Apart from this, some other precautions that need to be taken are-
1. only seeds of native trees should be planted; exotics and ornamentals to be avoided strictly.
2. seeds should be kept dry till monsoon.
3. having a variety in the nursery is preferred.
4. any kind of chemical fertiliser / pesticide should not be sprayed.
5. sapling plantation (after 1 year preferably, in monsoon) should be done in suitable areas and not more than 3 saplings of the same species should be planted in a small patch; variety preferred.
Rest all depends on your gardening skills, which in my case are poor!
So it is basically about adopting orphans who ask only for a few cups of water, some shade and lots of love and affection, yet in return; apart from all the uses you studied in school, they sequester carbon.
So go ahead! Make a meaningful contribution in stabilising our climate!
Postscript: I sincerely feel I'm not the only one doing something like this. There might be, and infact there are many people / organisations in India who are collecting dropped neem seeds and sowing them. However, I know none of them. So at the end of the day I do not wish to be dragged into a controversy regarding a stolen idea or publicising my work using other's ideas. I've just given it a name in order to brand it as a campaign and promote it for the cause of tackling climate change.
Happy (?) New Year
Introduction: Old article dated 31st Dec '08. Written on New Year's eve...
Today is 31st Dec 2008. Tomorrow a new year begins, bringing with it a new joy, new hopes, new desires, new ambitions, aspirations....You see, we're all greedy, that's why the list becomes endless! But look at them, living out there in the woods and the deserts; the lakes and the mountains; those with whom we share our planet. For them, tomorrow will be like any other day. Life is a challenge, and at every single second, they battle to win over it. Be it any time of the year, not sparing even the new year's day, they know, humans- rich and poor alike would encroach upon their domains. Be it any month of the year, they know they would have to be wary of gunshots and deftly concealed metal traps. And they've realised, those gunmen, if caught, would soon be out on bail, for committing what the law calls 'an unbailable offence' just to shoot 'em down some other day. Be it any day of the year, they know they would be admired in tiny cages (where they don't fit in) or relished on expensive crockery, more than being seen in the wild. Also be it any season, (they don't know!) the climate would fluctuate unimaginably!So new years come and go; but new hopes, new joys, desires, for them, are never born. Perhaps, we never let them take birth. Whenever I write or speak about Mother Nature's plight, these beautiful lines from Mr.Mike Pandey's film, 'The Vanishing Vultures' come to my mind- "Nature is resilient. Given a chance she will bounce back." Yes she will; we know it; if we give her that chance..to let that new hope take birth. And what's a better birthday, than any day in 2009?
Today is 31st Dec 2008. Tomorrow a new year begins, bringing with it a new joy, new hopes, new desires, new ambitions, aspirations....You see, we're all greedy, that's why the list becomes endless! But look at them, living out there in the woods and the deserts; the lakes and the mountains; those with whom we share our planet. For them, tomorrow will be like any other day. Life is a challenge, and at every single second, they battle to win over it. Be it any time of the year, not sparing even the new year's day, they know, humans- rich and poor alike would encroach upon their domains. Be it any month of the year, they know they would have to be wary of gunshots and deftly concealed metal traps. And they've realised, those gunmen, if caught, would soon be out on bail, for committing what the law calls 'an unbailable offence' just to shoot 'em down some other day. Be it any day of the year, they know they would be admired in tiny cages (where they don't fit in) or relished on expensive crockery, more than being seen in the wild. Also be it any season, (they don't know!) the climate would fluctuate unimaginably!So new years come and go; but new hopes, new joys, desires, for them, are never born. Perhaps, we never let them take birth. Whenever I write or speak about Mother Nature's plight, these beautiful lines from Mr.Mike Pandey's film, 'The Vanishing Vultures' come to my mind- "Nature is resilient. Given a chance she will bounce back." Yes she will; we know it; if we give her that chance..to let that new hope take birth. And what's a better birthday, than any day in 2009?
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