Contradictions

Some of the inherent contradictions in our everyday modern lives:

• planning for a secured future for our children and not willing to compromise on our personal comforts that cumulatively cause devastation of our planet (thereby robbing the security off their future)
• being concerned about the environment and driving a car (or any motorized private vehicle)
• buying organic foods packed in plastic
• buying organic produce that are not grown locally
• keeping our houses clean and putting out the garbage (after all, the garbage gets somewhere on this planet, it doesn't just magically disappear)
• wanting to stay healthy and not paying attention to the source of the food we eat
• concerned about global warming and using a clothes' dryer, air-conditioner or any such modern convenience

I have personally been through all of these contradictions in my life. Every single time I was aware of the gap between what I wanted to do and what I actually did, I cringed. I carried that pain in my mind and body. I didn't want to continue that way. I am currently exploring options that would reduce, if not eliminate altogether, the contradictions in my life.

- Hema

Inheritance or Loan?

I wrote this article in February, while we were still living in California:

Kids. I brought my kids into this world, whose state is compromised by the choices

I make for them.

My choice to drive them to get "educated",

my choice to drive them to special classes,

my choice to drive them to play dates or field trips etc.

Each one of the above was attempted with a good will but in the process depleted the

very place that they need to survive -- our one and only Planet Earth. After all, oil/gasoline/petrol

is not a renewable resource.

I was constantly torn between being a provider for my children and being an

advocate for this Planet. I realized that convenience was an easy trap for us, the

grown-ups, to fall into; the price is unfortunately paid by the future generations. This

didn't seem quite ethically right to me.

I started questioning every one of our outing:
"is this trip to the grocery store really necessary? can I do something else too and get the most of it?"
"do my kids really need to have this play date that involves driving?"
"can I find something locally that is equally entertaining and avoid driving?"
"why are my kids more special than the kids starving in poor countries?" etc.

Thus we started staying local, walked and biked a lot. For the most part, the kids were not restrained

to their car seats for more than a few minutes.

- Hema

“We do not inherit the Earth from our parents, we borrow it from our children.”