Whose father, what goes? How many of us really care about how we’re ravaging the planet?

What is provided to us for free, by Nature, we’d like to meddle with and mutate because, of course, we’re never satisfied with what we have!

THIS TOO SHALL PASS/By Punam Bakshi Mohandas

Apparently, there’s some fool out there crowing in delight at having “created” the first seedless mango! You poor fish – if there are no seeds, how will there be more mangoes? Imbecilic answer: Grow the seeds in a petri dish in some lab, of course! What is provided to us for free, by Nature, we’d like to meddle with and mutate because, of course, we’re never satisfied with what we have!

Europe is in fairly dire straits at the moment insofar as the water situation is concerned; in fact, it wouldn’t be far out to say they’re facing a near drought situation. The intense heat wave is also causing plenty of wildfires. Now, this isn’t just Nature throwing an almighty tantrum; the cause is the human race, its quest for more consumerism leading to more greed, never mind the fact that we’re ravaging the forests, the rivers, the glaciers, the mountains – all put upon this earth for us to enjoy and benefit from naturally.

I sometimes try and sneak in some parable in my lessons about how we can do our bit to reduce consumption and the whole idea of consumerism which has just been sold to us cleverly by ad gurus – and I watch my students’ eyes glaze over. They’ve grown up so familiar with consumer patterns that they really have no idea what I’m talking about. I watch people take the lift to the second floor when it’s hardly an effort to walk up; to casually discard an empty plastic bottle of water and head straight off to buy another instead of refilling the first; to wad up a piece of paper and bin it instead of first thinking through what they want to write.

When I lived in Dubai, I remember my oven had a problem and it was so challenging to get someone to repair it, because everybody just trashed old or faulty electric appliances and bought new ones – nobody bothered repairing anything!

And so, it was really refreshing to come across a video posted by someone called Vala Afshar a few days ago, on clever inventions that can save our planet. I thought the shampoo and toothpaste bubbles were a superb idea, given how we never really know how much shampoo is enough and the subsequent lather containing chemicals just clogs the drains. Moreover, we then consume a lot of water in washing the soapy stuff out of our hair. However, what really caught my fancy was edible spoons made out of wheat, maize and other grains, that have the rigidity and texture of crackers! Another superb invention was the six-pack cup or glass holders once again made of grains and their husks, so that if they were to be thrown in the sea, they’d be food for the fish. Amazing, really!

Something that Vala said really struck me, which is that we all are responsible for saving the planet, instead of waiting for someone else to do it. This, truly, is the missing link. When Thailand took a strong initiative to ban plastic packets at supermarkets in 2019, the Thais themselves were compliant, but it was the westerners living in Bangkok who moaned about how they were expected to carry their shopping home!

Indians of course, are not known for their civic or civil behaviour and most of us wait for our neighbours to be the change and do the worrying over the planet! The owner of the well-known, family-run Pasture Dairy bakery in Pune stopped with plastic packets and, instead, went in for paper bags, even though the cost to him was higher. However, he got absolutely irate when customers complained that the bags would tear and they preferred the plastic.

We don’t care so much about the environment. Hell, we don’t care so much about human beings! I was saddened and appalled to read about the little boy dying of injuries after being so brutally beaten by a schoolteacher (Rajasthan; Jalore district). The crime? The child belonged to the Dalit caste and had dared to touch the pitcher of water meant for the upper caste teacher. Recently, a Dalit teacher was burnt to death (Rajastan again; Jaipur this time). When we’re still shackled by all this casteism, to the extent that we’re willing to take another person’s life for even daring to think of drinking our water, do you think we’d really worry our heads over something as paltry as polluted rivers or melting glaciers? Hell – we haven’t even been able to stop spitting and peeing on the roads; who cares about fish and street dogs dying due to eating the plastic bags we throw away? Whose father, what goes?

Also by the same author: A society in peril due to social media & how it’s so easy to be swayed by mere rhetoric – THE NEWS PORTER

(The main/featured picture from Pixabay has been used for illustrative purposes only)

Punam Bakshi Mohandas is a journalist and writer with 25-plus years of work experience across India, Dubai and Thailand. A nomad at heart, having travelled over 43-countries at last count, Punam is also a film critic. She was a weekly columnist for the Hindustan Times (New Delhi edition), Delhi Midday, The Financial Express, The Statesman and the Times of India (Kolkata edition). She is also the author of the book, ‘Fallen Angels’. The views are personal and The News Porter bears no responsibility for the same.