The Insatiable Greed

Then, June-July

Satisfied with the greenery just outside our balcony, we resisted having plants in the balcony protruding from our drawing room. Young children was one excuse. Then when they grew up and seemed responsible, the fear of having brown finger as against green made me go slow.
But once we started, there was no stopping what I wanted in my balcony. Slowly, one by one, each pot got added. I watched with bated breath as each new plant took time to assess its surroundings and decide to flourish - it was as if they approved of me. Their approval encouraged me to add yet one more.
Ambition and greed grew.
Then, the rose that bloomed almost every day slowly dried up showing its green spine that slowly turned brown. The Tulsi - did it accuse me of neglect? It dried up and the two saplings that I got also did not seem to take root. But I refused to pluck the dried stem out. Like clinging to the dead, I clung to the dried plants.

Now, September

The dried ones remain dry, but suddenly life returned - Tulsi grew even in a pot that I had stopped watering after I had transplanted the original plant to another pot. I had given Tulsi from the rose pot (which was growing on its own) to my neighbour. But suddenly, the rose pot has a proud and tall Tulsi. The central pot still has a dried Tusli stem. But with that grow weeds...? I refuse to pluck them out. My garden is not a study in specialisation but for greenery. Whatever grows, grows... Each has its beauty. One creeper has yellow flowers. My foolish heart suggests it is pumpkin. It also has for company a Tulsi and some other plants, surely roadside variety.
One small pot has mustard seeds - an experiment by my elder one - that seemed to wilt when I neglected it for two days. The hibiscus leaves droop. But when I poured water the third day and it drizzled a bit, that was enough for the plants to look fresh and ready.
A plant I got from my brother - leaves with purple centre and green borders - never took off.
Watching the life-struggle and the hope it brings when it succeeds, how can I destroy any one of them by branding them a weed?
I still lust for more variety in my small garden.

Protect It Like Wealth

There was a time when 'wasting money like water' was a commonly understood maxim. Commonly accepted in fact. But today, the consequences of taking water for granted is hitting us badly. Globally there is a shortage of drinking water. Water resources are drying up. And rain flays us or fails us but does not do much to fulfill our water needs.

Because, we use more than we need... more than nature designed for us. We flush water down the drain, we flush waste into water bodies and think that somehow, money is going to find us water all the time.

Having got used to this system, it came as a shock when one retired IAS officer pointed out to me - we shit in water which is considered holy, pour more water to flush it across the city thus adding volume and then try to remove the waste and make that polluted water usable in some form. It has become fashionable to say 'recycle' but not 'stop polluting'.

Ecosan toilets has been tried successfully in some of the regions with high water table and a retired IAS official who had worked with it wanted a book written. After I met her to ghost write the book for her, the comforting sound of a full flush tank emptying itself in my toilet makes me feel guilty. These toilets work on the principle of liquid separation, letting the waste dry hygienically and use it as compost at the end of a period of time. Like in the traditional system, but with hygiene and privacy, it helps maintain the ecological balance and puts less stress on water. As I did some research to add supporting data, other consequences of the sewage system also came to the fore, as also the increasing demand for potable water.

Yes, it needs a huge mindset change. But it is either that, or running out of water sometime soon. Instead of grappling with more and more expensive technology that only addresses water purification after it has been polluted, it is important to look for ways to curtail the polluting habit.

We can no longer afford to waste water. The sooner we realise this, the better.

At Nature's Mercy

The drizzle was hardly going to deter the party of nine that set out on the jungle safari, enthusiastically hopeful of catching sight of one predator or the other. As we entered the jungles, the rain seemed more determined and forced us to pull down the flaps to keep the rain out of the open jeep.

I was in the last row with my point and shoot camera with my children and my big-camera hugging husband. We were in the jungle, for heaven's sake! If we pulled down all the flaps, what would we see? So just the back remained open.

Catching sight of a lone elephant drenched in the rain but peacefully munching food - being the first
one to spot it and being the only one to be able to see it thanks to the angle it was in! And, of course, being the only one to shoot a picture (I hope to put it up one day)! Oh my god, what cheap thrills we get from trivial things!

And then, the wheel got stuck in the slush within direct line of the elephant's vision. The whirring of wheels attracted the elephant's attention and I continued shooting, thinking even if we get killed by that elephant, at least the 'last' pictures will remain. But no such luck there as the elephant found the grass more exciting than a safari jeep making noise.

We escaped alright, only to be caught in the most nightmarish thunderstorm, and this time too, lucky me got to see all the fireworks. But this time, I didn't feel so lucky. The lighting streak just a few feet from my back was not what I had paid for. I nervously looked ahead, wondering if the jeep with its flaps covering it was a good or a bad conductor. And my back felt terribly exposed.

We were on a hill, near the peak, under several trees. And our human bodies are themselves good conductors. What about the elephant and the gaur that we saw earlier? Can I take comfort from the fact that if they survive such lightning and thunder - and did that thunder sound right above our heads? - then maybe we could too? But though I can be thick-skinned, I didn't think that was good enough.

And then, one straight line from the sky to the horizon which was not even a few feet away given our height, and an orange light at the end of it.

Now I was positively nervous and asked the driver if it was safe to be out. He remained silent and the others seemed not to want to worry. One quick prayer - He must have heard me quicker because of the height for the fury stopped almost immediately and only rain continued for some more time.

By now, I just wanted to get back safe. Though thunder and lightening stopped and I wondered how the animals dealt with such noise, continuing across the steep hillside looking for tigers no longer looked such a delectable prospect. If we skid, we would go down hill, maybe saved by the trees but without a vehicle and in tiger territory.

Well, the fact that I am writing the blog proves we returned without much incidence. We didn't spot the predators, but for once, it was enough to watch nature unleash her power.

We had after all gone to see her creatures in natural surroundings. And she showed us, oh boy she did, with lightning snapping right at our backs!

The Human Touch

Thousands cover the green trees. Pelican, egrets, painted storks, plain storks, black beaked ibis... They come here for the warmth, the water, the food. But what they also get - contribution from us humans - plastics and wastes... Can we do something about it?

A Tradition of Respect

Does the crow really carry the soul of ancestors?

Is the cow really divine?

Does the snake drink the milk we give it? Does Shiva really wear it around his neck? Does Vishnu really lie on it?

Do Gods and Goddesses really ride the mouse, the bull, the lion/tiger, owl, swan, peacock and the eagle? Does a god really have elephant head?

Laughable, indeed to make children believe in such myths...

And yet, what a wonderful way to teach right from childhood love for animals and birds, to treat them with respect and awe and to protect them. If it is through quaint stories that also trigger their imaginations, why not? Finally, the stories encourage eco-friendly thoughts, don't they?

Milk of Unkindness

A recent visit to some villages was an eye-opener - something I could do without. There was much ado about how many of the women in the groups bought cows from a loan advanced to them to enhance the family income by selling milk which was in high demand.

Of course, the women were below poverty line and it is definitely a good idea. Then I met a vet in the centre who kept talking about artificial insemination, and I couldn't make the link except in the most basic way.

But it shocked me when I started talking to a beneficiary and realised that all cows are impregnated with the semen of Jersey bulls through artificial insemination. The bulls born of such mating are sold to the abettoir while the cows are retained. Since Jersey could not survive in the Indian tropical temperature, this has been the method adopted to improve milk production.

The net result, the local bulls - with mechanisation of farming and transportation - have become redundant for farmers and non farmers. It is only good as beef. And the cow only feels an injection inserted when she is in heat.

Somehow, this seems like another case of animal cruelty to me. Is it fair to prevent the cows from mating in the natural way just for our selfish needs? Would the milk produced from a local cow not be enough? Or even if it is not, can't we humans reduce our requirements instead of again denaturalising the entire process?

As I travelled through the villages, I could only think the only answer to all environmental problems is to remove man from the equation. The rest of the animals and plant world will prosper much better.

We Need a Hero

"At least a lakh," I heard a voice behind me as I stood staring in wonder at the African elephant in front of me in the zoo we were visiting. I frowned. Was he estimating the cost of acquiring this huge, majestic guest from abroad? Was he calculating the transportation charges? Was he... As is if in reply to the questions in my mind, I heard him tell his companions, "Look at the length of the tusks. At least a lakh," he repeated sounding knowledgable.

It made me shudder. It was obscene - this assessment. Is that the only thing that caught the man's eye? Look at the way the tusker communicated with her companion - yes, it was a she, as we discovered by the love-play between her and the smaller elephant in the huge pen. It held me fascinated so much that I was loathe to leave.

But that's the sad fate of our wild animals. They are assessed only for what money they will fetch. A film by Shekar Dattatri - The Truth about Tigers - was screened at the Jungle Lodges Resort we were staying in. The pictures of animals killed mercilessly were ugly. The picture for wildlife in our country was ugly. The money they fetched was the sole reason for this heartlessness. It was like raping a woman and killing her - worse, it was like raping your own mother. Not just tigers - the elephants too. And in reverse order. Kill first, loot next.

The film also said that things were looking up. That the tigers have been brought back from the brink of extinction - thanks to individuals who have struggled against indifferent government attitude. But today, hopefully more sense prevails. The JLR itself has people who seem passionate about nature and preserving it. It is a beautiful way to alert us to our assets - no, not in the value they fetch, but the beauty and the delicate cycle they help balance. Forests have been revived and space provided for the wild animals to roam freely. Of course, some tourists seem to think that the animals are for their pleasure - making noise, carrying cell phones despite warning... But that's for another time.

The image of the men who were caught and what they had to say does not go away. Maybe because for me these images - not for the first time, of course - came at a time when the nation is boiling over about the rape of a young woman in Delhi and her death. The rape of the woman and the country only seem to reflect the apathy and indifference we have developed over the years. So long as it is not in our backyard, not affecting us, then why bother - till now, this seemed to be our thinking. This has given the authorities enough reason to become slack because we have ignored several other wake up calls, or sunken back to the stupor of routine. Corruption festers because there is no citizen action, no citizen group, no powerful vigilant body that acts as one. We hear of one or two bureacrats who clean up systems and feel everything is fine with the world. We don't even realise when the system relapses to old ways, when the bureacrat retires and another one comes in his place with more - maybe not corrupt - but complacent view of life. We do not have fire in our bellies.

To rouse us up, we not only need victims who evoke anger, but leaders who show us the way. I am willing to fight, but I don't know where to begin. I am scared too, of stirring up hornet's nests for I value my life. But if I knew others believe like me and will guard my back as I guard theirs, taking that step forward will be that much easier.

What we need today is a leader who will shake up, persist and disrupt.