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| Introduction Each year, when Spring comes, it brings with it all the promises of a new season - bright sunshine, nodding multicolored flowers, bird song, and pleasant breezes. Each Spring, without giving it a second thought, we welcome the expectation in the air. We expect new shoots to push their heads out of the earth. We expect the sun to envelop us in its warmth every morning. We expect the usual serenity to sweep over us as we sit by our favorite river or lake. We expect the cycle of life to go on as it always has - children playing on the lawn, the tempting aroma of food drifting in from the kitchen, shared laughter over glasses of iced drinks… In short, we expect quite a lot from our environment without realizing, perhaps, that this peaceful picture of our lives may soon lose its tranquil reality and turn into either a distant dream for future generations, or a faded memory for those past. As we continue to live in a world that is becoming increasingly materialistic, we refuse to accept the fact that our best friend, Nature, is slowly but surely turning into our worst enemy. The earth that provides us with essential life-support systems will soon be too hot, dry, and bereft of trees for any kind of life - animal, plant, or human - to survive on it. The sun that shines on us so unconditionally now will soon become a death warrant in the form of ultraviolet radiation. Our favorite rivers and lakes will have become victims of landfill leaching, industrial runoff, and acid rain. We exploit the earth fully, but seldom realize that for everything that we take for granted - from the pesticide induced beauty of our lawns, to the food on our plates, to the ice in our drinks - a little part of nature silently pays the price. Each and every human action has an environmental consequence, usually detrimental to Mother Nature . . . . Conclusion Learn not to view the environmental crisis as a global catastrophe alone - exclusive of your little niche in the world. "no man is an island, entire of itself;" wrote John Donne, way back in 1624, "every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; …Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." All of us are involved in the world environment. The hole in the ozone, regardless of its geographical location, will eventually harm us all - as will smoke emissions, acid rain or surplus garbage. If a tree is felled in the Brazilian rainforest, we will be the poorer. We can either continue to live in a smoky, smoggy earth choking with garbage, or one that has abundant greenery and clear streams, to say nothing of pure air. It might be the easier choice to go on living our decadent lifestyles, but it is certainly not the right choice any more. We have now arrived at a cross roads, and the decision is ours to make. We can either choose to say goodbye to the Spring forever, or bring it back with a new zest. We can either start cleaning up our act now, or let the earth die a miserable death. We are all in it together. We have only one planet. And only one life. |
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| Part of a paper presented at a local awareness event organized by a well-known NGO. |
| LETTING THE EARTH BREATHE: Bringing Back the Spring |
| April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain. Winter kept us warm, covering Earth in forgetful snow, feeding A little life with dried tubers. T S Eliot The Waste Land |
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