World environmental day

I was still not born when the first world environment day was celebrated in the year 1973. Since then, it has been hosted every year by a different city with different theme. Media and celebrities have encouraged World Environment Day celebrations by endorsing and taking part in it. Every year some or the other campaign is launched and celebrated, and awards given to people who have taken part in environmental activities.

This year I have read some newspapers talking about the motor bike rally as part of world environmental day. What an irony this is! I do not understand how the environmental day and bike rally go together.

When I was growing up there was no TV; I also do not remember any one in our village receiving newspapers on a daily basis. My education towards the environment is not through newspapers or TV news, but through our daily association with nature.

We were told by our parents and elders in the family and the village that the Mango tree gives us mango to eat and to make pickle which can be used while eating meals, leaves to decorate the house door and branches to cook food, stems are used to make  doors, chairs, beds, and of course for shade in the summer and for many other uses. My other best one was the “arrack tree”; it provided natural alcohol to the villagers, succulent fruit and the leaves of which were used to make mattress or for many other household uses including construction. The list is endless, but what  is clear is that the affiliation of the people with the tree is not for one purposel it is multipurpose.

When we used to walk on the road even in mid-summer, the heat would hardly hit  us because both sides of the road were completely covered by trees. When I used to come to my college in Bangalore from my village which is 35 kms from the city in the bus, I could feel as if I am traveling in an AC bus and the smell of different flowers from the old tree was something else. Now, if I drive my car with full AC on, I don’t get that effect anymore. Those days, we would take an hour to reach college in the bus, but now a car drive on the flyover does not get me to my village in this time.

We have many people in this country who have lost their life while protecting the environment, and many of them are losing their life almost on a daily basis.

We have also heard about Timmakka in Karnataka. Popularly known as Saalumarada Thimmakka, shehas planted trees estimated to be worth Rs. 1.5 million. People like Medha Patkar have spent a number of days in different jails in India, got beaten by the police, stood in raising water, did hunger strikes. She has continued to do the same for many years to save forest in middle India. Despite this, we ensure that she loses her election when she contested this year. She is too radical, I guess, for our Parliament.

What about Bechan Lal who wants to save his home, land and the forest from a multinational company which will displace people in the name of development and power production in Maan forest in Madhya Pradesh. He was sent to jail on a clearly false case and released only last evening after 28 days. Did we raise our voice against his arrest, false implication in a criminal case, or did we even hear of him facing something like this in our newspapers who claim to be free and fair. I guess they are too busy with Modi’s swearing in, or Bechan Lal is too small and selfish because he merely wants to save his forest, his land, his home, or is it because Bechan Lal is fighting against our power supply which we use for our AC, music system, our party and our celebration. I guess our celebration is too important than the life of Bechan Lal and his forest, his home, his land.  

It’s not just Bechan Lal; there are many others like him in this country who are jailed, forced to sit in jail as for asking to save the forest. But it is ironic that we are busy planting trees on the world environment day as a mark of symbol. Of course we will not turn up until next year, and would not bother to know what happened to the saplings that were planted earlier.

In any case why do we have to care for world? We destroy our parks meant for running, playing and relaxing because we have treadmill at home, food from hotel/packets, milk from Nandini, water from taps, fruits from shops. This is our only association with the forest. How do we engage ourselves with the world environment day?