A friend and I were discussing causes when she mentioned that asked to choose a cause she would prefer to give first to education of children. Environment for her was least important; that these same educated children will save or conserve the earth later. I realized then that she voiced this mass preference aptly for the first time. People love children…nothing wrong with that….even the ad world is using supposedly cute kids to sell houses, cooking oil and even tyres. They have every right to grow and get all that we have got in life. Love, a good job, lots of money, 2-3 houses, cars.
But if they have got all the things that we have got including education, would they really be interested in saving the planet? We didn’t, then how can we put such a huge pressure on their shoulder. In one of the elite schools here, when asked where water comes from, a student replied – tanker! No surprises here because how many of us adults really know that trees and forests are the real source of many perennial rivers, lakes and ponds. You cut them down and in a few years time there will be no water….like that in the deserts. Ever wonder why there is no water in a desert? Maybe because god came down and cursed the land, that’s why?
Saving the national animal might be media brouhaha and a human rights issue, breathing down on environmentalists to let humans stay in the forests. However, people are not aware of a simple fact – that the fight is not about saving the tiger; it’s about saving the forests and our rivers. It’s all intricately linked. Tigers on top of the food chain can only exist if all elements in the forest are healthy and occupies its rightful spaces. Will any one of you come forward or notice if media says ‘save the langur or the spotted deer’?
I recently visited a few homes in the urban developed city of Pune, a place where in the 1990s there were no ceiling fans. All these homes had stories of greed, abuse, torture, incest and psychological problems – in middle class educated homes where people had good jobs like you and me. By the end of the day, I was nauseous and disoriented. All the education for what, when in the end it all boils down to Greed and more greed, and no respect for your own family members, so called ‘loved ones’.
Yes, there is definitely a need for education, to first save humans from each other. Respect for nature, environment and wildlife then will follow automatically.
3 comments:
Wonderful post! But you know what, I see the tide turning slowly - for example, my nine year old daughter is being made aware in school about just how important it is to save our planet. She in fact, follows this to the T - throwing rubbish in bins (and not on the road), expresses sadness when there's too much noise someplace..and even though it looks a little 'dramatic' coming from a kid, we do know somewhere in the sub-conscious that yes, in the future, these kids will take it on themselves..
And yes...it's very important that the kids first learn to respect each other, and learn the human values..I agree, agree
(Wanted to include this in the previous comment, but got carried away by the 'save planet' thingy) :-)
Thanks Ph: Thats really encouraging to know that you daughter is so well aware. Sometimes you need these kids to teach parents back. I am just hoping that they carry it to their adulthood unlike most of us.
:-)
bips
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