Treesouls

The Rotary club sent me an invitation. I went. They said that the meeting agenda was on keeping our surroundings clean. I listened. Water, land, air, fire, sky – All these five vital elements were to be discussed. Their use by mankind thoroughly debated. Agenda set, meeting started. Traces of self promotion by the participants filtered through. The issues under the hammer though were noble and timely. I sit.

Quite a substantial number of members of the Rotary club filled the seats. In between all of them sat an English lady going by the name Nadia. Came to know that she was a lot into social service and surrounding cleanliness campaigns. Felt a little ashamed. That our country needed an English lady to set things in motion made me feel guiltier. She helped out in her own way. Yet we don’t need help to litter our streets in our umpteen ways. Anger fills me. I make no attempt to hide it.

The Rotary big guys spoke. All on the city’s cleanliness state or lack of it. Lot of light thrown – On our people’s propensity to litter without a care in the world, on overflowing drains, on overturned bins, on open manholes, the whole works. Long winded takes on the probable reasons like lack of education / awareness followed. Lots of educational institutions dot the landscape. What have they taught? This worried all present.Why are private institutions not taking the lead? Questions flew. Answers stayed put. Some speakers stressed on waste and litter to be strictly disallowed on public places. Some wanted filmmakers to make movies on these issues. A few laughs rose. No heated discussions. Hot Coffee, Tea followed though. I felt uncomfortable that what I sought didn’t seem like happening. Just more questions. Not many answers.

Next to speak was the English lady Nadia. Suicidal Society – Her topic started. Startled – I got interested. Sat Straight.

The speech started on individual discipline. The man who keeps himself and his neighborhood and surrounding areas unclean is in effect digging his own grave. The speech caught fire. The issues cascaded. Lack of enough provision in houses for dirty and used water to find their way into the public drains. Stagnant water that facilitate breeding of mosquitoes and bacterial threats. Uncouth men and women who spit on public roads and property. Effluents from factories that totally pollute ground water. Gases, smoke and carbon emissions from manufacturing units. Minute cotton fluffs in cotton mills that can pose hazards. Each issue with grave repercussions for mankind. both directly or indirectly. Simple truths be told, Man is setting himself to kill the other by not keeping his surroundings clean. It hit me like a hammer thrust in my heart. Beautifully, attractively, in ways seemingly beneficial to all, in many more different avatars, man is using nature’s vital five elements the wrong ways and pressing the button to his own destruction, a suicide attempt at best. The speech made many speechless. Nadia’s simple talk doesn’t just apply to Coimbatore or India, but all of developed and developing countries that lose sight of keeping the surroundings and environment clean.

My own take on this issue falls on the legal system given more teeth to pull up offenders who fail on the cleanliness front. Private agencies coming in the fray and taking responsibility is one end of the spectrum. The real responsibility lies with the individual. Just like suicide attempts in India would entail one year imprisonment; this environmental degradation should also be treated as a punishable offence by law. Only the law can create a new world when people don’t seem to really care. Just like Russian laws in Stalinist era or euro laws pertaining to the same, or better still New Zealand (a great example), implementing such laws in India is the only way out. As a popular saying’s interpretation goes – You cannot request a peacock to gift you a feather. It can neither understand nor oblige. You just have to grab it.

The Indian government, central and state better wakes up and implement strict laws on hygiene and cleanliness of surroundings and environment. That for me is today’s pressing need.

<This rotary club meeting was held in Coimbatore during the last week of November.>

(The first in a four part series whose purpose is to increase awareness and galvanize each individual into action.)

Melting glaciers in Greenland. Heat wave in Europe. Hurricane Katrina destroys New Orleans. Wildfire in California. Ice shelf breaks in Antartica. Somebody else’s problems we think, a passing glance at the news and then we concentrate on more important things like why Sachin Tendulkar has started getting out in the nineties and what he should do to reach the 100 mark. 

Take a look closer to home.

• July 26th, 2005 – Mumbai records 950 mm rainfall in a single day
• Floods in Kurnool – semi arid region of Andhra Pradesh
• October 2007 – hailstorm in Chennai!
• November 2007 – sea level rises and waves pound the manmade rock barriers in Thiruvottiyur, Chennai
• Mercury crosses 42 deg C in Chennai at least 7 days every year
• 240 kmph winds cyclone in Bangaldesh

What happens when news of any such event pours in.

Those of us who have links to the concerned hotspot may frantically call and speak to our family or friends to confirm that they are safe. Those unrelated to it may watch the news for the visuals painting nature’s fury; some masala topic to have a time-pass discussion at school, college, office or at the evening gathering at the pub. News Channels and news papers will run donation and help campaigns and channel the collections to on site relief agencies that will use these resources to help people AFTER the event has occurred. And the more conservative, religious minded of us would shake our heads and say that nothing can be done about nature’s fury; it is all in GOD’s hands and he is punishing us. 

How true and yet how far different from the reality that last sentence is – GOD is definitely punishing us and for something we have been doing and continue to do everyday of our lives. We are playing with the natural ecosystem of our beloved home – the Earth. We are changing the fundamental balance of the complex interrelationships that have existed between various natural elements since millions of years by the very nature of our existence, our life style. And the rapid growth and development which we are all so proud of – the rise in GDP, the infrastructure, the IT boom, the latest glitzy shopping malls have a darker underlying streak – a spew of carbon dioxide emissions into the vast aerial ocean above us which we call the atmosphere.

It is this very real by product of development that is changing the fragile natural balance of the earth. And when that changes beyond the tipping point, nature will crash down on one side and will do what it needs to do to restore the balance – even if it means questioning the need for human existence on this planet and acting on that.

And this phenomenon has been christened several years ago by leading scientists across the globe – GLOBAL WARMING. Already being monitored since the 1990s by UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and officially acknowledged by most of the world’s nations through signing of the Kyoto Protocol. Of course the world’s biggest cause of Global Warming, the USA, has not ratified it and developing countries like China and India have been given leeway to make up their contribution to the phenomenon as they have been lagging behind till now.

Our official whining position is that per capita emission is much lower than the developed nations so there should be no restriction on us. Forgetting that the globe is warmed by total emissions thrown into the atmosphere and that it does not recognize the economist defined parameters like per capita emission. And forgetting that in our effort to catch up with the world with our misdirected effort to improve the lives of our children through so called development, we are actually destroying the sustenance for the lives of these very children.

Can we do really do nothing about this nature’s fury and prevent the catastrophe of the near future (yes the future is in our lifetime itself and definitely in the prime of the lives of our children)? Of course we and only we can do something about it as we are the ones responsible for bringing it about in the first place!

But how can you say that an ordinary individual like me is responsible for events of this magnitude and also that I can do something about changing it for the better?

A well known management paradigm practiced with great success in Japan over the years says –

“First recognize that there is a problem, you are already half way to solving it. Analyze the problem and identify the root cause, the solution is attached to the cause and therefore self evident”

So, let us start by understanding what this phenomenon that we call global warming really is. Then we will understand how each of us contributes to accelerating it. And finally how each of us can do something to stop and reverse it to the required extent.

Its time the Asian disporia woke up to the Global Warming phenomenon. Stark reality of economic slowdown, development meltdown, production paucity stares the contintent which accounts for more than 60 percent of the world population as a recent report prepared by The Working Group on Climate Change and Development tellingly postulates.

The new report “Up in Smoke? Asia and the Pacific” released in New Delhi on 19th November 2007 with a foreword by RK Pachauri, Chairman of the Nobel prize-winning institution Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change should serve as a wake up call to all concerned.

Read the report here

In fact there is no better time to act if one really understands the ramifications. The consequences for climate dependant sectors like agriculture, forests, and fisheries are frightening to say the least. Its really time for Asia to wake up. A real co-ordinated effort is needed. The action points rest with appropriate governmental policy and fiscal direction, sustainable, low carbon intensity energy pathways, alternative water and energy supply systems, strategic ecosystems preservation and at the same time achieving a fine balance vis a vis development and economic progress.

A hard ask really but not impossible if people are aware and act on their green responsibilties in tandem with pro-active governments showing the way.

The Working Group on Climate Change and Development consists of organizations like the ActionAid International, Bird Life International, Care, CAFOD, Christian Aid, Columban Faith and Justice, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Institute for Development Studies, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), MedAct, The New Economics Foundation(NEF), onecliamte.net, Operation Noah, Oxfam International, Panos, People and Planet, Practical Action, RSPB, Tearfund, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), World Vision and WWF.

There is a saying that goes like this – Never fear shadows since it just means there is light shining nearby. Well, for those who live literally in the shadow of incandescent (standard) bulbs here are a few bright facts that will throw some light on making a switch to compact fluorescent bulbs. It will simply change the way you live..

Quick Facts on Compact Fluorescent bulbs

• Uses two thirds less energy than standard incandescent bulbs
• Life span more than ten times longer than standard bulbs (6,000 and 15,000 hours compared to 750 hours or 1000 hours for incandescent bulbs)
• Substantial savings in energy costs
• Produce seventy five percent less heat
• Save 2000 times their own weight in greenhouse gases
• Most CFL’S fit into existing incandescent light fixtures
• Use of electronic ballasts in CFL reduces flickering and slow starting

Recycle CFL bulbs after use

It a no-brainer that use of CFL lights is the way to go not only for the environmentally conscious but also the average citizen if you take into account the money and energy savings. At the same time, CFL operate with an elemental form of mercury that can be a risk when broken. Its important to ensure that they recycled after they are spent. If you cant recycle them, atleast seal them in a freezer bag before safely disposing them. This EPA resource shows how to safely dispose CFL remnants if they are broken.

Like most of us, I also had the usual image of the forest as picturized by the media in those days – as a dark, scary place that is dangerous for human beings.

As a lover of flora, I could never comprehend how trees and wild growth could be so formidable to the general human sensibilities. Added to this sub-conscious intrigue was element of ‘danger’ that added that necessary fuel to my vivid imagination.

I needed to know more but never knew how.

There were not many people then to talk to, about trees, forests, wildlife and nature. In midst of this latent quest, I discovered that my friend shared the same desire. Our discussions kept getting more and more exciting by the day.

Frustrated and disillusioned with our lives and the daily grind, we decided to go. Forest was the simplest answer. We just had to find a destination, chart out the logistics, budget for expenses, to get away from the mad world… secretly hoping we may never come back.

Having shocked our families and friends with our travel plans, we both set out to our destination – a lovely forest by the riverbank, nestled in southern part of India, full of lush flora and abundant fauna. Traditionally, women did not do such things and as two single female travellers, we were still not sure what to expect then. It was a great high to break the norm. Added to this, the unexpected and the unforeseen element of our escapade kept us ‘on-top-of-the-world’.

We really did get away.

Little did I know what was in store for me. I was told and made to believe that I voluntarily ruined my life by venturing out into the forbidden areas. Because who came out of the forest was a different person. I was born again. It was a new me.

We set off towards our destination. As we driving steadily, I could not help but notice the changes that were taking place around us and within us. To begin with, the roads became less and less wide, the ride became bumpy, the advertisements laden sides were steadily minimised, sighting human beings was getting difficult and the mobile phones lost their signals. Counter-balancing this receding urban existence was the growing anticipation and excitement within.

While we saw the civilised life receding from sight, we felt the growing dominance of one colour – Green. Slowly and steadily, with every kilometre covered, we saw more and more trees around. Apart from tall trees, there were varied kinds of plants in myriad colours accentuating the green growth around. And this was not the usual green we all are accustomed to in the cities; this green was the lively green, the happier green and the real green we seldom see.

With the greenery around us getting dense, we could help but realise the change in the way we were breathing. It seemed as if, for the first time in our lives, we really did breathe. After living in smoke-choked cities, the clean breath of air was delightfully unbearable and delightfully difficult for our polluted lungs to comprehend. We stopped for a while to absorb it all. We heard and felt the sound of life going into our bodies. We did not speak, but our smiles said it all. It was too precious a moment. And it was only the beginning.

As we drove along, we were welcomed by a gentle rain shower. We felt the coolness of the raindrops washing our fatigue away. Never before did the rain taste so pure and sweet. To this mirth was the added caress of forest breeze. With the breeze came in pure fragrance of myriad life forms. The smell of damp earth, moist ferns, rain-soaked bark, was all more than intoxicating – to make us fall in love with life all over again.

A modest cottage nestled in a lush jungle with food and all the amenities taken care of, was a reassuring start. After the initial excitement of seeing a new place, taking pictures to hearts content, what followed thereafter was magic. 

Nothing compares to the sights a pure jungle has to offer. All the photos from travel magazines, image websites, screen savers, were being played live. Anywhere you look around; there was a moment of lifetime to capture.

For a nature lover, the experience is beyond joy, transcending prayer. It is total surrender to the aura around which does not spare the conscious and the subconscious. From captivating sceneries to breathtaking landscapes, lush trees to varied plants, wild animals to exotic birds, the freshness to cool, to the feeling of being one with the elements, there is a lot more than one can ever describe. Words like ‘marvel’, ‘splendour’,’ fantastic’, fail you when it comes to describing the essence of the forest. A beauty so virgin and pure, that it makes you feel stupid to have spent life elsewhere, devoid of pure nature.

It is not without a reason that one feels at home in the forest. There is all around sense of nourishment around that has not been tampered with. One can only feel ashamed of what mankind has done to these gifts of God.

To see the animals thrive in the wild is a delightful shock. Having used to seeing animals in the confines of city life in zoological parks, watching these children of nature in the wild, in their own home is a soul warming experience. From their sheer size, to their ability and form, one can feel that nature has its own perfect prescription to nurture, heal, and nourish.

The lushness of the green cover, the tall stature of the trees around, makes one feel full with abundant life. Each of the trees, with their thick trunks rooted firmly in the ground and their outstretched branches had a story to tell. For a moment it feels as if they are talking to you.

While some trees in their prime were resplendent with fresh tender leaves of different hues, some were stark naked but with wisdom seeping through. Some with their out stretched branches seem to invite us in their arms; some were trying to reach the heaven above in prayer. And some were simply standing still and tall with their feet firmly in round as a testimony to their faith in life, in permanence and in change. There could not have been any better lessons learnt here.

Sunrise in the forest is an unforgettable experience. To catch the birds in their hurried way, one has to be awake much before the sun comes. While the birds sing, screech and preen, they announce the rise of the sun and hurry their chores. While the life on earth wakes up to welcome and receive the light, the sun seemed to be trying its best to reach them all. It is a breathtaking sight to see sunlight sifting around and through the trees and making its way to the ground.

And as the sun rises, the life around takes so many colours that one can soak in. The faint shadows cast by the trees carelessly strewn on the grass weaves a dramatic sight around. There is abundant inner joy and happiness walking and trekking around. We go back in time when we were innocent – in admiration and awe. Like children we could drop our jaws and play around.

Evenings were spent by the riverbank, watching the bare trees submerged in water. Stripped of leaves and its bygone green splendour, these trees survive the onslaught of water every year. The gradient on their barks, left by the water level stands testimony to the hardships they have faced. From deprivation to abundance, they have seen it all. Yet they all stand straight and stand tall letting the birds rest giving them their moments of respite. And the gentle ripples keep lashing against the trees and the ground… this sense of peace goes on… 

Every sight had a story to tell, urging to soak us in. By the riverbank was the atmosphere serene that time passed by, meditating over the setting sun. That kind of peace and quiet is not something we are used to. It was disturbingly calm for all one can hear is own breathing, loud and clear. In an instant you know that life and energy is entering and leaving your body. There could not be more gratifying experience that this.

The sunset heralded a new riot of colours over the water and land. It was a sign for the nature’s symphony to play a different tune. With flora retiring, the fauna went live. Birds seemed in great hurry to call it a day and head back home. Crickets and frogs could not have had a better chance to get a mate than now. In midst of this rhythmic stupor, we hear loud interjections. It could be a tiger’s roar, an elephant’s trumpet, a deer’s bark or any animal indicating its presence nearby. That’s when we shake up from our dew-eyed romance with nature. The realisation is a pure humbling experience, as to how vulnerable we all are to the elements of nature. It is simply truth in your face.

Twilight is a wonderful moment in the wild, when one part of life takes over the other. Apart from jostling the hunter and the hunted into action, the nightfall wakes in us the sleepiest of our instincts. Never before did we feel the heightened power of our senses, which goes beyond the five we live with. While the whole day passed like a song and looking around, the nightfall does shake us up to feel our deepest scars and fears. Though twilight always has a special place in daily life, to live it up in the forest was an absolute redefining experience. Maybe that is why it is called the sacred twilight zone and there is lot more happening there than we can possibly comprehend.

While our senses work over time to watch out for and anticipate an activity around, we lose the track of time. The nightfall brought in a symphony of sounds, which was a lullaby in disguise to help us forgive and forget. Along with it comes a greater feel. There is something more than the usual, around. A feeling of a sacred presence, a feeling of being surrounded, of being secure, of being comforted, as well as being watched. We sleep while our senses play around. After mother’s womb, this is the closest one can get to feel of comfort and warmth. Never before was sleep so sweet and comforting in this lap of Mother Nature.

They say life somehow finds its way. In the forest, I could see it all around me. Every living thing seemed to be resplendent in its own ways. There was no sign of deprivation or pain. Everything was in a perfect balance. So much that I felt like an intruder in that perfect zone.

To live a day and a night in the forest was like living a lifetime, every time. There is no end to what one can write. These memoirs of living in the forest are frozen in mind; frozen in time.

Every moment spent was an instance of unlearning the lessons that were earlier taught. With body refreshed, mind cheered, and soul enriched, we got richer. It felt as if I got back all that I had spent living all along. I was nursed, nurtured and nourished. It is indeed true that nature can change you. Like faith, this brush with nature changed my life forever.

We realised how much does nature gave us and continues to provide for us. We are indeed thankless mortals.

Today when I look back, I feel more love and respect myself. Every moment spent in the forest was sacred for every form of life there was sacrosanct. Every little sight made me want to pray in gratitude, like an end to the restlessness of life. It gave me the strength to follow my heart and the courage to chart my own course of life. Something about it made me fearless, as if I imbibed a little bit of the wild.

This addiction to nature is indeed an addiction to life and love. This experience was the birth of a desire to live.

Like all good things, this experience too came to end. We had to come back to our past lives – but there was a newfound peace and joy within. What we felt all the while was a real soul treasure; something precious and sacred to be preserved for life, till the end of time.

There were some lessons learnt and feelings felt. Some were loud and some were latent. Some were shared and some were silent. That…

• That life is precious.
• That we are all the same. That we forgot.
• That nature heals. We can heal.
• That life somehow finds its way
• That there is still a chance