These days I here a lot about these stuff- global warming,eco-conciousness,carbon foot print etc etc. And I came across this movie by Al Gore- the inconvenient truth.
I grew up in a typical middle class family. There was no shortage of necessities, but wastage of any form was considered a crime. One look from my dad and uncles, and I would gobble up all the unappetizing vegetables on my plate. My brother and I would get reprimanded if we failed to switch off the tube lights and fans after we leave a room. When we went out, either our Bajaj scooter was running at full capacity or we would take the public transportation. Even today I can see my dad getting groceries from a local shop in those cone shaped paper babgs only.Plastic bags are very rare in Tirunelveli.Whenever we had a family get together, banana leaves were used as plates.Even when we go out on picnics I remember how my dad used to pack food in a banana leaf so skilfully!In hindsight, although most of what I have cited were prompted by economic reasons, I couldn't help noticing how environmentally sound these practices were. Today, as we battle global warming, and food price inflation, and talk about reducing carbon footprint and adopting a minimalist approach to life, I smile and wonder how complicated we have made our lives to be.
Are we as a society really heading back to where our ancestors came from? A leisurely pace of life. A physically demanding lifestyle like ploughing fields, drawing water from a well and well! walking everywhere to get things done.
One of my friends was extolling the virtues of brown rice over white. Is that not what our grandparents and to an extent our parents grew up on? In the process of modernization we have managed to strip rice of its natural goodness and then add the nutrients back through chemical means and make it fortified white rice. So indeed have we managed inject cows with hormones to give more milk and now search for ‘organic’ milk so we are not overdosing ourselves on hormones. We spray pesticides to keep the crops healthy and end up paying double for pesticide free produce.
In our pursuit of bigger homes, fancier computers, seasonal clothes, monstrous cars we have become a huge part of the equation. It all ties in with an earlier discussion here on this blog about going back to Nature and completing this Circle of Life. Here are some things each of us can adopt in our everyday lives to be part of this movement. To leave a bit of this beautiful planet we are on for our children and grandchildren.
I am yet to decide how or what I am going to do to get involved. The onus is on us as people of a generation that can take charge. The generation that can leave the world a better place than it found it.
Lucky for me, I can manage by borrowing a leaf or two from my childhood!
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