Today was an especially hot
summer day (42 deg C/108 deg F) here in Chennai. I stepped out when the Sun was
at its peak to buy Nongu (palm’s fruit) from the vendor in the street
corner. The soft, squishy pulp of this fruit comes with just a spoonful of
sweet water that makes it absolutely delicious on such hot days. I parked my bicycle next to the vendor and
admired how oblivious he was of the heat that was engulfing him. He had no
walls, no awning, no chair. Nothing seemed to deter the speed at which he was
chiseling the fruit from its shell.
I saw a car pull in and a guy, in
his late 20’s, stepped out to buy from the same vendor. I noticed that I was
bothered by the fact that this guy didn’t turn off the engine. I knew that the
wait could be several minutes long, both for him and me. I considered many
options of how to respond to this situation and before long I blurted out to
the stranger, thankfully politely, “Hi! Can you please turn off your car?” In
utter disbelief the guy peered into his car and replied, “But there are people
inside the car!” I wanted to say that they won’t melt in the next few minutes,
but held my cynicism back and tried my best matter-of-fact tone to say, “That is
okay just for a few minutes, right? Your car is constantly spewing heat and heating an already-very-hot afternoon.”
I realized that I won’t be able to
continue the conversation without emotions playing in, and so decided to stay
quiet. The vendor was unaware of the drama unfolding in front of him, since we
were talking in English. I deliberately chose English over Tamil since,
unfortunately, the former commands more attention and respect in the
Tamil-speaking land.
Did I cross the social limits? My
heart was racing. I wanted to rush back home, Nongu or not. A minute
later, I saw the guy on the other side walk toward his car, open the door and
turn off the ignition! What did he just do? I felt relieved, surprised and grateful.
I started the conversation again – “Thank you! You are unique in the way you
responded. I am really sorry if I had hurt your feelings earlier.” He smiled. I
went on, after raking my brain a little – “You probably have heard about global
warming. I work on climate change and so things like this bother me. I am deeply concerned about the state of the Planet that our next generations will inhabit.”
Now, do I really “work on”
climate change? Maybe so, maybe no! I live every wakeful hour thinking about
global warming and planning my every step carefully to mitigate the effects of
my actions on this Planet. So, I do work on climate change. But I don’t
get paid to do any of this. So, maybe I don’t work on climate change!
He introduced himself as Karthik
and got interested in the topic since I am a researcher, according to him. He
said that he normally rides his bicycle to work and that he has heard about
carpool being implemented in other metropolitan cities in India. I guess he was
trying to tell me that he is a conscious consumer.
Now, how inconsequential is my
action? There are approximately 5000 new cars hitting the roads of India, every
single day. So, if I were to think that I have made a little difference by
talking about idling to one Karthik, I would simply be flattering myself. But
yet, inaction is not my choice; I will continue to act but not hope. Humility
is born from the awareness that one is insignificant in front of the colossal
dimension of global warming.
-- Hema
I am proud (as always) to call myself your friend. Thank you (as always).
ReplyDeleteGood one Hema...
ReplyDeletelesson to be learnt. we all can make a difference in our own way, no matter how small it may be, we should always take an initiative.. thanks Hema fo sharing !!
ReplyDeleteSifting Through the Embers
ReplyDeleteby Douglas Adams
There’s a story I heard when I was young that bothered me because I couldn’t understand it. It was many years before I discovered it to be the story of the Sybilline books. By that time all the details of the story had rewritten themselves in my mind, but the essentials were still the same. After a year of exploring some of the endangered environments of the world, I think I finally understand it.
It concerns an ancient city – it doesn’t matter where it was or what it was called. It was a thriving, prosperous city set in the middle of a large plain. One summer, while people of the city were busy thriving and prospering away, a strange old beggar woman arrived at the gates carrying twelve large books, which she offered to sell to them. She said that the books contained all the knowledge and all the wisdom of the world, and that she would let the city have all twelve of them in return for a single sack of gold.
The people of the city thought this was a very funny idea. They said she obviously had no conception of the value of gold and that probably the best thing was for her to go away again.
This she agreed to do, but first she said that she was going to destroy half of the books in front of them. She built a small bonfire, burnt six of the books of all knowledge and all wisdom in the sight of the people of the city, and then went on her way.
Winter came and went, a hard winter, but the city just managed to flourish through it and then, the following summer, the old woman was back.
“Oh, you again,” said the people of the city. “How’s the knowledge and wisdom going?”
“Six books,” she said, “just six left. Half of all the knowledge and wisdom in the world. Once again I am offering to sell them to you.”
“Oh yes?” sniggered the people of the city.
“Only the price has changed.”
“Not surprised.”
“Two sacks of gold.”
“What?”
“Two sacks of gold for the six remaining books of knowledge and wisdom. Take it or leave it.”
“It seems to us,” said the people of the city, “that you can’t be very wise or knowledgeable yourself or you would realise that you can’t just go around quadrupling an already outrageous price in a buyer’s market. If that’s the sort of knowledge and wisdom you’re peddling, then, frankly, you can keep it at any price.”
“Do you want them or not?”
“No.”
“Very well. I will trouble you for a little firewood.”
She built another bonfire and burnt three of the remaining books in front of them and then set off back across the plain.
That night one or two curious people from the city sneaked out and sifted through the embers to see if they could salvage the odd page or two, but the fire had burnt very thoroughly and the old woman had raked the ashes. There was nothing.
cont...
cont...
ReplyDeleteAnother hard winter took its toll on the city and they had a little trouble with famine and disease, but trade was good and they were in reasonably good shape again by the following summer when, once again, the old woman appeared.
“You’re early this year,” they said to her.
“Less to carry,” she explained, showing them the three books she was still carrying. “A quarter of all the knowledge and wisdom in the world. Do you want it?”
“What’s the price?”
“Four sacks of gold.”
“You’re completely mad, old woman. Apart from anything else, our economy’s going through a bit of a sticky patch at the moment. Sacks of gold are completely out of the question.”
“Firewood, please.”
“Now wait a minute,” said the people of the city, “this isn’t doing anybody any good. We’ve been thinking about all this and we’ve put together a small committee to have a look at these books of yours. Let us evaluate them for a few months, see if they’re worth anything to us, and when you come back next year, perhaps we can put in some kind of a reasonable offer. We are not talking sacks of gold here, though.”
The old woman shook her head. “No,” she said. “Bring me the firewood.”
“It’ll cost you.”
“No matter,” said the woman, with a shrug. “The books will burn quite well by themselves.”
So saying, she set about shredding two of the books into pieces which then burnt easily. She set off swiftly across the plain and left the people of the city to face another year.
She was back in the late spring.
“Just one left,” she said, putting it down on the ground in front of her. “So I was able to bring my own firewood.”
“How much?” said the people of the city.
“Sixteen sacks of gold.”
“We’d only budgeted for eight.”
“Take it or leave it.”
“Wait here.”
The people of the city went off into a huddle and returned half an hour later.
“Sixteen sacks is all we’ve got left,” they pleaded, “times are hard. You must leave us with something.”
The old woman just hummed to herself as she started to pile the kindling together.
“All right!” they cried at last, opened up the gates of the city, and let out two ox carts , each laden with eight sacks of gold. “But it had better be good.”
“Thank you,” said the old woman, “it is. And you should have seen the rest of it.”
She led the two ox carts away across the plain with her, and left the people of the city to survive as best they could with the one remaining twelfth of all the knowledge and wisdom that had been in the world.
[From the book Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams.]