“Save our planet”, this cry gets louder and louder everyday but most of us pretend to not hear it. As I sat thinking on the lines of pollution, climate, environment et al, I wondered what would my feelings be if I were the Earth. Feelings of anguish, anger, helplessness pervaded my being and I felt that I should write down what Mother Earth herself would surely say if she could express herself.
“I am more than 4 billion years old. From a ball of molten lava it took me millions of years to cool down, in fact my core is still burning liquid. As my surface cooled down, to my delight, I started supporting different forms of life. Over millions of years, my body brimmed with trees, fish, animals, birds of different hues, of different sizes, of different shapes- those were happy days. As per nature’s law, all these different living beings were dependent on each other, and there was ecological balance.
And then disaster struck. There evolved a life form called ‘homo sapien’- the human being. And my life has never been the same since. It looks like he will be the cause of my undoing. From the time this creature was born, I have known no peace. His brain is too developed for his own good, and with this super organ he will surely bring about his as well as my destruction.
His basic needs could have been easily met from the bounty I had to offer. But no, this intelligent creature had other plans. He was not satisfied with the food I offered him and he started tilling the land. Barks of trees and hides of animals did not suffice to protect his body from the elements, he made his own clothes. The natural shelter which I provided him in the form of caves fell short of his expectations, and he constructed houses. He wanted ornaments, weapons, furniture – the list was endless.
And who do you think supplied him material to produce all these fancies of his? I did, of course! He looted and plundered me, but I did not complain thinking that as long as it benefitted him it was alright. But as time passed by, things only got worse.
For metal, for oil, he keeps digging deeper and deeper into my bowels. He destroys forests, diverts rivers, pollutes oceans and flattens mountains. A child takes whatever the mother offers with love. But this child of mine looks bent upon destroying me. He punches more and more holes in the ozone layer leaving all life vulnerable to harmful radiation.
Initially, I forgave him thinking that he with his super intelligence would realize his blunder and stop. But no, inspite of knowing the consequences he still commits the same mistakes over and over again. I have tried to warn him, fill him with fear by causing quakes, floods, cyclones, droughts but he heeds not.
There is a Sanskrit saying ‘Vinasha Kale Vipareetha Buddhi’ which roughly translated means that when the time of destruction comes, one exhibits dangerous behavior which is exactly what the human is doing. And as if draining me of my resources is not enough, he even wants to colonise other planets and satellites. All I can do is weep for this wayward child of mine.
Dear humans, I appreciate your interest in saving the planet. But what you are doing is simply not enough. Act fast or it will be a case of ‘too little, too late’.”
Connect & Follow If I Were