Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness

SMALL EFFORT, BIG HOPES

Like all of us, I too have been silently witnessing the scarcity of basic food commodities every now and then. The situation is worsening with each passing year. The perils of our growing dependence on food imports is a cause of immense worry. A state so rich in water and land resources should have been a surplus producing state. The crippling effect of highway blockade reminds us of our food insecurity. The fast changing land use pattern, high prices of land, enchroachment of traditional grazing lands, degraded pastures are all adding fuel to the fire. With inflation at record highs, we are in for deep trouble. Climate change is another factor adding to our woes. In the past decade and a half we are witnessing drastic changes in our climate. Kashmir is hotter now. Glaciers are shrinking, dry spells are increasing, and untimely snow and rain is hurting everything from agriculture to health. Rivers, lakes, streams are increasingly silted , polythene is adding to their death and has become a big environmental and health hazard.

Like most of us I too am deeply concerned about these issues. I always wanted to share my concerns with others.

Childhood thoughts of myself  bathing in Nallah Amir Khan which flows almost in our backyard haunt me every now and then  as I haplessly watch its transition from a clear  water stream to a stinking drain. The choked waters of  Nigeen Lake and Pokhribal and the all pervasive  weeds, algae and polythene stir the conscience. Their silent cries are getting too deafening to ignore. I just could not keep my thoughts to myself any more.

 Collective thought, they say, often leads to affirmative action.There is also a moral pressure to act. Posterity is likely to paint us in black in the pages of history if we fail to voice our dissent over the death of our  wonderful planet.While the illiterate  can excuse themselves on the pretext of a lack of awareness, the well informed educated masses surely cannot escape responsibility. The educated lot especially the youth have to become the leaders and  agents of change to contain the damage that we have knowingly caused to ourselves. Our problems are now the problems common to the whole world especially the developing world. Climate change, food insecurity and associated issues are affecting humanity and know no boundaries. The world is our stage.

  I have been using information technology since my days as a student and I have always been aware of its immense potential  as a powerful medium for dissemination of thoughts sans boundaries.   I launched a blog by the name of green hopes which is hosted by wordpress.com. A blog is like your personal web site on which you post your views and invite comments of viewers. Green hopes is an apolitical one and is predominantly a picture blog. Pictures speak and often make more impact than words.  Green hopes is a manifestation and peaceful expression of my deep concern and anguish over the state of our food security  and the environment. Although, in its infancy, i found it to be a catharsis of my disgust towards our collective neglect of the basic issues concerning our future. It is a canvas for painting my thoughts to be seen by others.The satisfaction accruing to me in blogging  is no less than that of a painter.My friends and colleagues have been really supportive and appreciating of my effort .The feed back has been quite encouraging and has spurred me on. God willing , I plan to  update the blog regularly and will  try to make it  a source of awareness which prompts action by factual and effective potrayal of basic issues concerning our environment and food security. These  issues are going to dominate our daily lives like never before in the years ahead. The Blog invites comments on each post and page from anyone who visits it. This becomes a powerful tool for evolution of collective thought on a global scale. The blog can be visited at http://www.greenhopes.in  .