Plant for the Planet

In my early school days, I would anxiously look forward to our ‘free hand drawing’ class as I loved to liberally put my imagination on paper and to colour the imagination the way I liked. I now recall that in most of the sketches the children would draw, a tree would usually find a place. I could not understand a child’s fascination for the tree in that age but now, I can correlate the link.

As the tree stands vertical, it carries analogy with the human elements. The tree grows, strives and flourishes and thus draws a parallel with our existence and growth. Analyzing further, the parts of the tree namely the root, the trunk and the top symbolize a human figure and its aspirations. The root represents firmness and adherence to one’s base, the trunk is a symbol of ‘becoming’ and the top, the actualization or achievement. The branches represent collective oneness in diversity. Such a symbolic representation of the tree is probably dormant, lying in the tender and subconscious mind of the child and hence, the fascination to draw and keep the tree as an essential feature of a scene, as a part or the whole.
The stout members of the fauna stand for years as reservoir of energy, the sentinels to our environment and offer an incredible charisma of nature. As the regal monarch of charity, they have, for ages, bequeathed wood, food, paper and oxygen, reduced carbon emission and helped maintain an ecological balance for our existence. A paean to such a nature’s bounty would necessitate endless verse of metaphors and allegory.
It is true that ‘Save the tree’ campaign has been initiated and advocated by us but it is also true that we are only responsible for the depletion of the vegetative growth. Whether driven by vested interests of commercialization or the expanding population or urbanization, we have only been cutting down trees or their foliage in forests to meet our excessive needs of land and paper. None of us can negate the reality that the forests are home to a large number of animals as well as important component of our water cycle. The roots of the trees and plants hold the soil together and thus prevent soil erosion. The resultant shrinking forest cover is a cause of concern and alarm for the world in general and we humans in particular. What we have done to overcome this; we have added a ‘Day’ in the list of our commemorative days and named it ‘World Environment Day’. And as a ritualistic adherence to the occasion, we try to spread awareness on the significance of the day, plant a few saplings and showcase our efforts through the print and electronic media. For certain VIPs, it is quite a deviation from the customary ribbon cutting when they hold a shovel, dig few inches of earth, place a small plant and put water, surrounded by a bevy of photo journalists capturing the action in their cameras.
I have no reservations on formalizing such events but let us turn the occasion to a green belt movement as was done by late Ms Wangaari Mathaai, the Noble laureate who mobilized poor women to plant millions of trees in Africa. Hers was a fit response to the challenges of deforestation and soil erosion. She left with some meaningful, inspirational yet simple words, quote, “Anybody can dig a hole and plant a tree”. Let us follow her in letter and spirit.
Citing the case of Africa does not imply that the spirit of going green is lacking in us. A community in Rajasthan called Bishnois has set an example as to how humans should live in harmony with the nature. The Bishnois way of life is based on principles espoused by their prophet namely, Lord Jhambleshwar. The nature conservation, water harvesting, planting and restoration of trees, feeding of animals and birds are some of the genres of activities they are passionately involved in. The Bishnois are also strong lovers of wild animals and birds. The community people had launched strong protests and even filed cases against celebrities like Salman Khan and late Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi for killing the black bucks. Ecology and environment protection issues have not merely been the passion but the religion of the Bishnoi community. Taking a cue from such examples, we, too can involve us in this noble task of environmental protection.
Notwithstanding the uncertain fate of the flora and the fauna due to vested interest of today’s man, history is nevertheless replete with examples of dedicated people who sacrificed their lives and riches for espousing the cause of sustaining the natural resources. Let each of us pledge to stop any further degradation of ecological balance and contribute our share in forming an eco friendly social life.
A thought for the day:
When all the trees have been cut down, when all the animals have been hunted, when all the waters are polluted, when all the air is unsafe to breathe, only then you will discover you cannot eat money. (A prophecy by the Cree tribe).

Posted by Navin Chandra Joshi in The South Reports