This is not a contradictory post, I am just presenting other side of the coin. in other words, it is a contradictory post.
What ever abuse the earth has undergone from past 500 years is hardly, hardly a few seconds for this 4.5 billion year old planet.
It has healed itself without any help. Nature does not need our help. (I'll write about this in my next post)
This does not mean we go about abusing plundering and polluting for another 500 years.
Many species have gone extinct without human intervention in the past. Giant reptiles for instance, long before humans came, 65 million years ago. A fact overlooked by the environmentalists.
Global warming is not a recent phenomenon. We are not even sure the present one is man made.
Natural disasters like hurricanes, cyclones, tornados earthquakes, famines, floods tsunamis have caused more damage than humans ever did. We are utterly powerless to stop them from happening. They are not new to us. They have been reported in holy scriptures. Famines, rivers going dry are reported in holy scriptures as well.
The environmentalists don't want to talk about this.
Even after making this planet completely and totally free of pollution, making it greener, even after all the citizens of the world become sworn and card holding environmentalists, there is absolutely no guarentee that our planet will behave well. But still we have to do our bit.
William Shakespeare died at a very very old and ripe age of 52.
With all the pollution and the CFCs and a gaping hole in the ozone layer, today the life expectancy is much higher. People in their eighties and nineties are very common, not a rare sight.
Sitting on a wooden chair and sleeping on a wooden cot, I have no right to say stop plundering the earth, stop chopping the trees. The environmentalists make us feel so guilty.
It is the environmentalists against you and me. They are the self styled protectors of the nature and we are the plunderers. They point their finger at you.
YOU THE PLUNDERERRRR !
They have the sympathy and they have the media on their side. (And they have the money, lots of it )
The media will not take the chances of speaking otherwise.
They are afraid that they'll be branded as the enemy of nature or enemy of the planet.
Please show me one person who does not love nature.
Please show me one person who wants to destroy the earth.
The Environmentalists have done a good job making us aware from past 40 years. Thank you, but you are talking too loud.
The sky is not falling, not yet. Things are not THAT grim as made out to be. Most delicate creatures still find the planet hospitable.
Bangalore is one of the most polluted cities of India. You'll find butterflys fluttering all over the city.
We are still enjoying the bounties of nature. We are thankful, we are grateful that mother earth is still giving us, feeding us.
No one in his right mind would bite the hand that feeds us.
And We still enjoy watching the wonders of nature. And Nature never ceases to amaze us.
Visiting blogs of Suresh, Ruth, Patty, Lorraine, Sandy Chinna Aamir Cindy gives me hope when I see their lovely pictures of vibrant and colourful nature, inspiring creativity and imagination which makes the world even more beautiful to live.
If at all we face extinction, it is the environmentalists who will lead us towards it.
Over zealous environmentalists will drown us in the sea of extinction.
More on this subject in my next post.
Its time to wake up and we have woken up. We cannot afford to relax from now on. Things can go worse if abusing and hurting the earth continues. The speed of progress needs to be reduced before things come to a grinding halt.
The history of madness of past 50 years (making money by waging wars and dropping bombs Killing innocent people and their own soldiers) will have a disastrous impact in the future.
If we want peace and harmony all over the world, We have to undo the economic system that has created poverty and hunger.
In a noisy and chaotic atmosphere this man is enjoying a peaceful sleep which is denied to those who have created him.
BLUNT KNIFE
WILD PIC
Sitting on a wooden chair and sleeping on a wooden cot, I have no right to say stop plundering the earth, stop chopping the trees...fantastic statement!
ReplyDeleteAnd every pic's a masterpiece with thought provoking message!
Thank you Rauf for sharing wid us..
Gangadhar, we are caught between
ReplyDeleteGovernments and greedy politicians and even more greedy giant multi nationals on one side and the self styled protectors of the planet, the environmentalists on the other.
don't know whom to believe. Public sympaties are with the environmentalists. I have doubts, benn asking myself lots of questions.
It will take two more posts Gangadhar. Me thinking and thinking.
What a very intense post Rauf...it really demanded a lot of concentration and very clever with your "contradiction" concept. I have heard that a supercomputer program worked out if we set off every bomb on earth at once...life would not end. Human life could not be promised to survive, but life.
ReplyDeleteI have just read a novel that is set in an end of life scenario...it is called The Road, by Cormac McCarthy. and we don't know waht ended the world...a asteroid, a comet, nuclear war, nuclear bomb accidents? Ice age? But we follow a boy and son...as they try to find food, but everything is ash...
Does it make a difference if we damge the earth and compromise life...or if Mother Nature has hurricane that damages life? Yes, it does...because what we do contains human emotion and culpability...guilt, lessons, denial, responsibility.
We have a responsibility to our own consciousness and our young people. If we move through the earth with care...and do not waste or harm...yes, we will always have conflict, but choose non-violent conflict resolution, yes? We can face our future or our deaths with self awareness and respect...and younger generations can respect our knowledge.
Why should anybody respect our knowledge if the history is one of arrogance, damage, and irresponsibility?
If the world ends and life ends...and it probably will in atime with a supernova, our sun explodes? Then wouldn't it make sense to survive or fight with integrity rather than disregard for survival and nature, our home?
I was thinking the same as the end of your post just yesterday, Rauf, have to undo the economic systems. How, is the question? Don't think it will happen.
ReplyDeleteAlso just had the book Candy Minx mentioned recommended last night by Cormac McCarthy.
I wear leather shoes, I eat meat raised on fields of corn. I drive 30 minutes to work one way, burning gas. I cannot speak either.
I agree with Candy that awareness matters. Death is part of life, a beautiful part of the cycle. But when death and disease come about because of man's desctructive habits, that is pollution in every sense: environmental, psychological, spiritual, etc.
Two photos of men are stunning.
I always learn something when I come to your site. Your photographs carry so much emotion. Most people would have seen a homeless man sleeping on the street. You see beauty.
ReplyDeleteI'm not much of a philosopher but I think we were meant to both use and care for the earth responsibly. The problem lies with those who drain the earth's resources and don't return anything. I think with all the brilliant people moving around this world, we should be able to find a way to drive to work and enjoy the fruit of our labor without sending our sons and daughters to fight for oil. War is many times more destructive emotionally and spiritually than development.
We can't save or protect every species but we do need to take care not to unnecessarily destroy the beautiful places and animals that feed our spirits. One of those places is your blog.
Thanks!
We need to go back to the old old ways of life where everyone does his and her part! No Rich man sitting up on his throne while everyone else does his work. everyone works together.
ReplyDeleteCandy, I write what comes to my mind and I have not done any research whatsoever nor influenced by any book. I realised it is not a right thing to do. But I have tried not to mislead the reader. I have read some reports in the newpaper about global warming and some BBC documentaries. Don't remember much. What some experts say that the planet freezes every 200 million years. Last time it happened was 80,000 years ago, killing all forms of life, only green algae and cyano bacteria survived. We evolved from them. 4 million year old mankind has gone extinct before. there are traces of ice on the equator, which is unthinkable, that shows that the planet fully freezes itself. out of 4.5 billion years ( some say 5 billion) Ice on earth is only 2 billion years old.
ReplyDeleteI am writing out of my memory, i could be wrong Candy. I thought I'll finish it in 2 more post but yours and Ruth's comment made me think and I have to add one more post. The comments are so helpful to me Candy.
Hi Rauf: I don’t feel like killing you but I definitely disagree with some of the things you have said. :)
ReplyDeleteFirst of all sitting on a wooden chair and sleeping on a wooden cot you have every right to scream not to cut trees and plunder natural resources. In fact I rather have you sitting and sleeping on wooden furniture than on some fancy plastic or metal piece. Getting into a chopping frenzy and clearing forests and messing up the ecosystem is wrong/ or even sinful and I am pretty sure that’s what most of the “loud and noisy” environmentalists are screaming about. You said nature is amazing and it gives us so much. U r right…and we can take them too..just make sure we give back as well. The idea is sustainable use (the latest buzz word and I say that with a touch of sarcasm becos now every darn project has that label attached. Lol!)
Anyways..imagine what would have happened if the noisy environmentalists had kept quite. Imagine what would have happened to Silent Valley or Narmada or Plachimada…just to name a few. Their strategy is pretty simple –Social Action leading to Social Change. So I don’t quite understand what u meant when u said “Environmentalists will lead us to our extinction”. I am not claiming that each and everyone of the screaming environmentalists are trustworthy and honest..but that doesn’t mean you have to bunch them all together and disregard them. It’s the case with every group in society—be it politicians, educators, scientists or just people. Right? Anyway I’ll wait for yr next post.
And change the economic system…wow!! That’s huge but sure, why not? It can happen. Lets borrow Gandhiji’s ideas of Swades and non-cooperation and civil-disobedience. People living in the west…lets begin by saying no to Wall Mart…or Coca Cola and Pepsi. People in my country, the largest democracy.-lets begin by boycotting multi-national firms. Free-market--bullshit.! To hell with it. There—you have a changed economic system. But not going to happen. Look what happened in Kerala after coca cola was banned. The state government imposed the ban; the high-court lifted it. People are falling sick on one side but the concern is for a MNC losing its profits. Lol! Doesn’t make any sense..does it? I say more power to the environmentalists and all the activists..let them scream even more..to the point of annoyance.:)
Maybe I am wrong about everything I said Rauf but nevertheless I state my opinion.
Its not a pleasant subject Ruth. Want to devote one post on the question you have posed. Want to post it after the next one. As I go on thinking realised I was wrong about a couple of things. I can't say i have answers. But I have a solution which will come in the end. Poverty and hunger is a part of the environmental issue. We cannot have peace until we solve it. I have to touch upon religion too which again is not a pleasant thing to do. Every comment is so important to me Ruth, So helpful thank you so much for your contribution.
ReplyDeleteI am really touched Bobbie ! Thank you so much, Its sad that I do not know anything about you.
ReplyDeleteI am not a philosopher either Bobbie, and I don't want to be one. That is another tribe I am up against. Yes I agree that they brought changes but where are we today with all the changes and philosophies ? What a mess ! How can remain in a state of enlightenment with all the misery and suffering around. We either insulate ourselves or remain insensitive to what is happening in the world today.
To survive we make demands out of nature. We have no options. We completely and totally depend on the mercy of nature. But we have been demanding rather too much and not giving back enough.
There is so much to say, and I have to make it short and I don't have any command over the language. there are 3 more posts on this subject. I don't plan any thing i just write what comes to my mind. i just know what I have to write about. I may be wrong, i never claim that I am right.
When you are free please write about yourself, here or at
8pennylane@gmail.com
I would love to know about you.
thank you once again Bobbie for your visit.
e2dees, oweee I can simply cut and paste what you wrote as a separate blog.
ReplyDeleteNo its not just awareness. Evolution of human mind is at work here. Yes awareness is a great contribution.
I'll tell you my own story.
When i was in 6th or 7th class, we were taken to Madras zoo which was very small at that time, all the animals were put in small cages. All of us had good fun, we all were very happy in the end.
25 years later I took my nephew Moin to the zoo, by now the zoo was shifted to a larger place just outside the city. Moin was 5 years old at that time, now he is 25, earning very responsible and hard working, I am very proud of him.
Though the zoo had a lot of space, very few animals were housed in larger areas, like deers giraffe zebras. But the fierce creatures were kept in cages. Little moin was very upset. He hated to see caged animals, he was in tears. i tried to pacify him, got him ice cream took him on the toy train ride but he was still unhappy and just wanted to go back home.
At the age of five obviously Moin was not affected by all the campaign by the animal rights activists or any awareness drive. He never knew about it. Still he was sad to see the caged animals and simply did not accept it.
Its the evolution of human mind at work here. Want to write about it some time soon.
Religion sanctioed slavery. It was in practice until recently. now we reject it. Evolution again. People fought against it. No one had courage to fight against slavery in the last century i mean 19th.
Hope racism disappears soon. I can't complain about other countries when India happens to be the worst racist country in the world.
Now the cocola court case. Any judge in his right mind would have upheld the plea. But this judge decided to lift the ban. Why ?
He is up against the evil forces, the most powerful who are ruling the world.
There is such a majority of good in this world e2dees, you can count the evil forces on your fingers and yet they are so powerful that the good majority miserably failed to contain them. What ever awareness they may create. I think I should post New year greeting I made for my friends for 2003-2004.
i replied to Gangadhar. We are caught between the greedy politicians and even more greedy multinational giants on one side and screaming environmentalists on the other. both are going to the extremes. and you know who is winning. I'll write about it in my next post e2dees. please go to sleep, sleep well eat well and drink a lot of water. I know you have to buy water. You'll be buying oxygen soon.
Kathy, this is coming in my last post of this speed series. I am coming up with some whacky solutions. 3 more posts.
ReplyDeleteWhacky or not it's more than our illustrious leaders ever do! Incredible pics mate. I just stared and stared at the dragonfly's. I'd side with the enviromentalists. They're far from perfect but at least they want to stop the rot.
ReplyDeleteAwareness is powerful, don't sell it short. Awareness brings light, and light shows things. The more aware we are, the more good will happen, I'm convinced of it. With awareness comes human evolution. All starts with awareness. That is the point of your blog.
ReplyDeleteOh Rauf, you sure know how to stir things up. Nature nurtures us, occasionally it shakes things up, that's the way. Environmentalist is just a word. I hear there's more light than darkness, because darkness screams louder LOL
ReplyDeleteI missed your posts Rauf and your PHOTOS? : MAGNIFICENT!
Rauf,
ReplyDeleteas you said we are still enjoyd the bounties of Nature and Nature never ceases to amaze us!
But
the world today is in need of uplifting spiritual thought.
We can help to that need by sharing the Peace and Harmony.
..where heart meets heart...
Thanks for your great post!!
Thank you FOUR DINNERS, dragon fly is very intersting to watch they hover like a helicopter, terrific design, I always wanted to freeze them in flight, I had many pictures of them resting on sticks, very delicate creatures. while taking pictures all the things the environmentalist were telling us came to my mind and I had to take a fresh look.
ReplyDeleteRuth, Since I spend a lot of time in the forests and I saw massive deforestation in the Himalays while trekking there. I really appreciated the awareness the environmentalists created on many local issues. Naturally my sympathy was with those fighting against the governments and giant multinational companies. But on global issues and on saving the planet I had to take one hard look.
ReplyDeleteI fell for it in the beginning. I appreciate the Kyoto protocol and I did not understand why USA is staying away from it refusing to sign the treaty. USA has a very effective EPA internally but has been the greatest contributor to the damage of the ecosystem.
I have been thinking very hard about human extinction and saving the planet and I have been writing about it in different blogs
I felt the environmentalist were going overboard and creating a false alarm. I realised that the planet doesn't need our help. What ever we do to improve the present condition, we are doing it for ourselves and not for the planet.
I made a new year greeting for my friends for 2003-2004, I'll add it to the current post at the end.
Ruth, the greeting is right below the current post.
ReplyDeleteOWEEE LORRAINE ! You breathe fresh air every day, you are so lucky. Things are pretty bad here in India. We have such huge problems that no one really bothers about clean air and water. We are the planet and we are taking all the abuse with a smile.
ReplyDeleteThank you Krystyna, we cannot achieve peace and harmony as long as there is war, hunger and poverty, people suffering, driven out of their homes or fleeing in terror trying to escape from bombs falling on them.
ReplyDeleteI came to tell you about Don but was touched by the photos...
ReplyDeleteDon of Conscious living Blog have been hosted in www.livinginpoetry.blogspot.com
Hope you can share ur thoughts about Don
What a fascinating post. Thanks for caring about the world we live in as much as you do. c",)
ReplyDeleteThank you IamNasra, I check Don's page regularly. Once I finish this series of post I'll visit your page too.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for stepping in.
Lorraine please try 'other' type your name, Type Lorraine, in case you forget your name and puttees your site address. 'other' always
ReplyDeleteworks.
yes yes we have not been behaving too well Lorraine, We are yet to prove that we are a decent species.
the environmentalists have been scaring the daylights out of us.
Welcome to daylight again Irene,
ReplyDeleteI have been thinking hard and sometimes I have to change my opinion, sometimes its really embarassing to contradict myself.
there are so many ideas so many conflicting reports. I go by what my heart tells me, I go by what I feel as I spend a lot of time in the wilderness. I may be wrong.
You'll have to forgive me. But I try not to mislead my readers.
Thanks so much for stopping by Irene.
Rauf
ReplyDeleteYou just amaze and touch me so much
with your wonderful posts!
You have so much heart and soul!
The way things are in this world can bring me to tears!
We all need to become more aware!
Thank you for making us more aware!
Blessings to you always Rauf!
Margie
P.S Astounding and beautiful pics.
Thank you for them!
Thank you Margie
ReplyDeleteWhat we are doing now is demanding too much out of our mother. Yes we are hurting her too. Now self styled defenders of our mother have suddenly surfaced. We the poor people are caught between those who hurt her and those who say don't touch her.
Mother is just smiling and keeps giving and feeding us.
Quite a collection of pictures. These reminds me of my childhood days back in the Philippines. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteDid you know that there are many Filipinos of Indian ancestry? I used to live in a place peopled by descendants of Sepoy soldiers, who fought for the British in the Philippines in the 19th century. The Sepoy soldiers had decided to stay there. And of course they married local women. You can tell easily who has Indian blood. But most of these people had lost their connection to India.
Imemine, sepoy means a soldier, actual Urdu word is Sipahy. Indians are all over Burma, old Malaya, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia (Bali), Fiji Islands.
ReplyDeleteThis migration took place more than a century ago. I don't know when America occupied Philipines.
Have to check, just forgot.
But the issue here is something else Imemine.
Rauf, This is an excellent post where you have tied together feelings, emotions, frustrations along with pictures to deliver a powerful message.
ReplyDeleteAs you wrote, things are not that bad yet. We still have a chance to fix things. We have learned to survive and adapt ourselves with changes (good or bad). The life expectancy has increased and people are living longer. If each one of us proactively does things to save the world, then we can together make a big difference. The results might not be instant, but our next generations will definitely get to breath easy and live in a better place.
I have no right to complain either, i live in a country that generates the most trash in the whole world. Things will change... I am willing to do my part.
Hello there Rauf dear,
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful selection of pics. again.
I enjoy reading other "perspectives", as sometimes "light bulb" goes on. There is nothing like looking at things from "both sides". I tend to that in politics, it never occurred to do it with nature.
If you find some time you may scroll down to my posting from probably May to early August and you'll find almost exclusive pics of nature around all around me, here in White Rock, British
Love and blessings to you and yours
I was out the whole day Aamir,
ReplyDeleteNo one in his right mind would damage his own home, We have been draining the earth's resources a bit too fast from the past 50 years. That's how I am connecting to speed. We demand speed, to keep up we have to dig more and more. We need more energy. This has to slow down. All the wars, nuclear tests hunger and poverty are making the situation even worse.
Rest of the world will suffer for the arrogance of the USA. I have some solutions which will come in the last post in the series. 2 more to go.
Hi Angeldust, I have seen your beautiful paintings, it is a feast for my eyes. I'll look in to your pictures soon. I'll ask you and my readers to offer solutions to tackle the present situation. We need not wait for the worst to happen.
ReplyDeleteLots of love to you too Angeldust.
Rauf,
ReplyDeleteThese environmentalists who shout do not live on trees, do not walk everywhere barefoot. They dont wear leaves on their body. They live in brick and cement houses, they travel by cars [own] and wear the costliest of cotton clothes and leather boots too. so who are they preaching. It is a vicious cycle all the time. somthing is destroyed to create something new and better, perhaps. Life is always like that. that was how the universe came into existence. That does not mean like you said we speeden and exploit mother earth. Lovely photos as usual dear. loved them. only i dont get much time these days to sit on this for long. Keep it up. bye, chubbanna
Hiyaa sweet chubbannax, We have no option but to live off the planet, no one has manufactured a blade of grass or a synthetic drop of water.
ReplyDeleteThese environmentalist are talking too loud. But like you say we have to slow down. Somebody has to tell the environmentalists that Comforts without draining the earth's resources not possible. They have to lead by example by giving up all their comforts, travel by bullock carts, wear fig leaves, eat grass and live under the trees.
Haven't been to your site for AGES and you have really changed it!! Looks great! Love the portrait of the older man.
ReplyDeleteThank you Kate, its been a long time. Hope you are doing fine.
ReplyDeleteYour call to change the paradigm is nourished by the service of your presentation. We must relax this profit-driven vestige of the industrial revolution and find self-sustainablity from finding appreciation in the donations we make to each other.
ReplyDeleteMr. Bradford, I sincerely apologise for the delay in responding to your comment. To be very frank I do not know how to respond as it sailed over my head. If you happen to read this would you kindly rewrite in a simple language. Thank you so much for your visit Mr.Bradford
ReplyDeleteRauf, I just now read this post and the previous one. Well-spoken/written! They both moved me. I enjoyed reading your thoughts on environmentalists, the earth, and us. And, I love how you incorporate your photos into your message!
ReplyDeleteinteresting blog and beautiful shot, compliments. ciao
ReplyDeletejulian
Thank you Julian
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