LETS TAKE A GREEN VOW.... NOW!

NOBODY MADE A GREATER MISTAKE THAN HE WHO DID NOTHING BECAUSE HE COULD ONLY DO A LITTLE.
*Edmund Burke

Hence the need for a green pledge... and The need to redefine progress... Just recollecting a snatch of Country singer Jim Reeves' song "This world is not my home I'm just a passerby..." stirs a deep nostalgia for a bygone era... so poignantly portrayed in Richard Llewellyn's saga of a Welsh coal-mining town in How Greens My Valley. For me the story always struck a deep chord jogging my school-girl memories of the serene and verdant Chotanagpur valley of small-town-Ranchi, which has over the course of the last three decades transmogrified from a lush dell to a loud and discordant icon of industrial progress. Christened the capital city of Jharkhand, a state carved out from the parent state of Bihar, Ranchi presents a microcosmic bird's eye view of what we have done to our environment.
My childhood reminiscence is not merely a school-girlish nostalgic trip down memory lane nor is our envi-ronment merely limited to the natural world of oceans and forests. It extends to where we live, work, play, and wor¬ship. It includes the air that we breathe and the resources available to our com¬munities, as well as the health hazards caused by environmental toxins and degradation. What we have done to the world around us will come back to us. It is the law of nature: as you sow so shall you reap.
However, I do believe persistence pays. "Drops of water hollow out a stone; a ring is worn away by use." So said Ovid, a Roman poet who lived between 43 BC-17 AD. The world of nature gifts us the quintessence of life itself. A million dollars stashed away in a bank are redundant if I as a human being am forced to breathe in foul air or am forced to drink filthy water. Cli¬ched though it may sound the truth of the statement that the best things in life are free cannot be refuted. William Blake (1757-1827) British poet, painter, engraver, and mystic in 1803 perhaps may have wondered deeply about natures gifts when he wrote in Auguries of Innocence",

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hourOur loss of a green and clean, environment is a 'logical' corollary to our failure to fathom beauty, of our capacity to wonder, to dream and to marvel at the manifold gifts of nature whicb we debase and devalue daily. The quetion each one of us must ask ourselves is: Quo Vadis? Where are we heading?
A few days ago I read the news that in the busy suburbs of London flower fragrances are on the wane due to air pollution and a high SPM factor in the air. The result is that bees which were earlier attracted by flower fragrances leading to pollination are unable to one find nectar and two cross-pollinate. Over a period of time one can visualize the further consequence-dwindling bee populations and loss of bio-diversi¬ty as certain species of flowering plants die away. Neither does the daily news bulletin bombarding us with depressive capsules of man-made disasters offer any reprieve. Sample this:

Huge Texas sinkhole's appetite
decreasing, officials say .
By JUAN A. LOZANO, Associated Press Writer Thu May 8, 8:21 PM ET
DAISETTA, Texas - Geologists said a 260-foot-deep sinkhole that grew to the length of three football fields over just two days seemed to be slowing down Thursday, but that it could take months before it's clear whether surrounding areas are stable.
The 900-foot-long sinkhole, with crumbling dirt around its edges resembling sharp teeth, has swallowed up oil tanks and barrels, tires, telephone poles and several vehicles in Daisetta, a once¬booming oil town of about 1,000 residents about 60 miles northeast of Houston.

Our Story
A long, long time ago and a very long time ago that must have been-the Homo sapiens race had no notion or ownership of land or property, ,no sense of comunity, no tool for buying and selling, no socially binding fabric of either kinship, fellowship, neighbourhood, or nationhood. Man led a nomad's existence wandering in search of food and shelter. Men roamed free. Fear and insecurity guided human instinct. Survival must have been tough-a daily struggle in fact. From hunter-gatherer to agriculturist to technocrat-we have come a long, long way. Let us plunge further back on this imaginary journey back in time.. .
Stretch your imagination. Leave hu¬man civilization behind. Close your eyes and imagine a unified land mass, a single super continent, Pangaeia. All the continents of the world united into a single huge landmass called Pangaeia, here in the Permian Period, 260 million years distant from the world you know now. The convergence of the continents has changed ocean currents, reduced coastline area, and resulted in endless stretches of inland desert. Welcome to the beginning of a journey through past eternities.

Now voyage back further. Welcome to the coal swamps of the Carbonifer- I
ous age, 350 million years in the past. Some day in the unimaginably distant future, their remains will fuel the insatiable greed of humankind, but right now these tree-fern forests are still whole and pure, inhabited by amphibians and giant dragonflies. To visit the amphibians ancestors, we will have to reverse in time... further

You fall into the depths of the warm oceans, because here is where you will find the prevaiiing life of the planet in this day and age-the Devonian Period, the Age of Fishes, 380 million years back. These oceans are ruled by Dinich¬thys, the "terrible fish"-and by immense primitive sharks. One day only their relics-their teeth will remain. But life is already out on land too, and to witness its emergence, let us go still farther back in time... to its very beginning... imagine the spectacle

Back to the Future Now

Open your eyes now. Look around you again. Surprise of surprises... you are back in the Holocene, in the modern world. What survives and what does not, is at least in part up to you now. The Holocene Epoch, the present epoch on the geologic time scale, which began 10,000 years ago is the most recent period in geologic time. The HoloceneGreek for "wholly recent"-Epoch began 11,500 years ago and continues into the present. It is also called the Recent Epoch.
Geologists roughly mark the bound¬ary between the earlier Pleistocene Epoch and the Holocene Epoch with a climatic moderation that accompanied the melting of huge ice sheets that cov¬ered more than one-fourth of the earth's land area during the Pleistocene. The ice sheets retreated at different times in different places, so their disappearance is only an approximate boundary. The universal boundary for the Holocene is 11,500 years before the present, as mea¬sured in calendar years.
The earth has experienced radical natural changes throughout its history. Even during the last 20,000 years, climate and sea levels have changed dramatically. However, human activity has had an appreciable effect on the earth only in the last few centuries. People have modified the earth's vege¬tation patterns, created conditions that led to the loss of soil in many parts of the world, and devastated entire ecosystems.
Signs of human alteration of the planet's atmosphere are evident in car¬bon dioxide levels recorded in ice cores over the past 250,000 years. During ice ages natural carbon dioxide levels were 200 parts per million (ppm) by volume. During warm stages, such as the Holocene Epoch, the carbon dioxide levels were 280 ppm. When humans began to use vast quantities of fossil fuels to power machines, the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere began to rise. The atmospheric level of carbon dioxide is now 379 ppm, a rise that equals the full natural fluctuation between an ice age and a warm period. According to one theory, the buildup of carbon dioxide and other gases released from fossil fuels into the atmosphere has caused a warming of the planet. If warming continues, it could lead to a rise in sea level, melting of permafrost (perma¬nently frozen earth) and glaciers at high altitudes, changes in temperature and precipitation extremes, and new animal migration patterns and habitat changes.

Progress has taken its toll. Everyday we are bombarded with facts-global warming, ozone depletion, silting of water bodies, Holocene extinction, coral bleaching, loss of bio-diversity and so much more. I confess with absolute honesty that I have a superficial knowledge at most about facts. However I do know that as a child my play area was green whereas my children who have more of gadgets and gizmos are living a straitened poverty-stricken life without open spaces to wander in and explore a life of wonder.
Today as we totter and teeter on the brink of a dangerous precipice threatening our very survival - just like that Texas sinkhole - forecasts of doom have acquired urgency as never before. We may croon "One Earth One Heart let's get together and feel alright but pay lip service respect to Mother Gaiea. I do agree love of one's family, community or country is an excellent thing - but why should that love stop at the margins? Why can't we think of love as an emotion encompassing all of us on planet Earth? Why can't science and scripture be wedded in our daily life? We must take robust action or choose to fade away like the dino dons of the Jurassic Age for those who can more easily adapt to changing conditions, of course, have a bit of an edge in the survival game.
Deep contemplation brings me to a reflection on the oldest literature of the Rig Vedic Scriptures, as also to the much latter-day story of Biblical Genesis. Questioning of theology leads to an understanding: "God's book is never closed". Let us redeem our pledge and promise to live a green life.

Green Life

Ponder over these questions-What is a green life? What is a sacrifice? It means giving up something we like. Sometimes we do this with the idea of getting something better for it; that is a sort of bargain. Sometimes we do it with a better motive-because we love God, or another person, and want to make him happy and occasionally we even feel like giving up all we have. The entire history of Hindu religion can be seen in this way. It began in a bargaining spirit, with the early people offering into the fire in hope of reward. In later centuries God himself was born to us in several forms, and, as in the Gita, taught us to work unselfishly, sacrificing self¬ish hopes and interests and to love God for His own sake. Many centuries later we learned further, from Vivekananda and Gandhi, a new kind of sacrifice¬sacrifice for the sake of the nation.

The Seers of Truth
Among the Vedic Aryans a tradition of nature worship arose when prosperity also bred fear-the fear of the loss of it all. However, here and there, in pockets, dissension grew. A few people grew tired of the everyday round of fires and chants offered in the hope of propitiating the Gods to bless them with a hundred sons and healthy head of cattle. They went off alone into the forests skirting the valley of the Ganges. Fear-less seekers of truth, bold questioners of rituals, they gave up their secure settled existence to embrace a life of indefatigable struggle.
Living on nature's bounty they thought deep within themselves about life, the world, God and man. Who made the universe and how? What makes us breathe and hear and think? These were India's first philosophers. Slowly answers came, schools of thought grew, and certain men and women were recognized whose meditation had been long and deep.
Rishis they were called-seers, because they claimed they had seen the truth, and that they were eternal truths, revealed to men anew in every cycle of creation. Then Gurukul ashra¬mas or forest schools grew where the people of the great valley could have their children taught, by living with the seer, serving him and sitting beside him for instruction.

Embracing a green life means a thorough overhaul in the way we think and act and achieve. It means taking onus. It implies a sacrifice. It involves a deeper loving. It entails a painful choice. It necessitates uncompromising action. Are we ready to give up our cocoon of comfort to espouse a green life?

What can we do? Let's assess. . .
Equipped with the knowledge that a clean environment for all is a human right we must combat environmental injustice effectively and environmental equity must become a guiding principle in measuring human progress.
What could we do if we were forti¬fied with a knowledge that it is impossible to fail in our mission to go green? Building a diverse, consensus-based group of students, teachers and parents at the local school level is something we can all surely do. While hi falutin stuff on environmental justice, climate justice, religious policy, and advocacy are movements we could show solidarity for it is at the personal and family level that we really need to bring in change before we decide on a green agenda to represent hundreds of communities across the country or even the world. That reminds me of another song-we are the world/we are the children/we are the ones who wil/lllake a brighter day/So let's start givillglit's a choice we're making of
saving our OWl! lives... Music never fails to stir the depths of my being. Even as we sing the Takshila song at every as¬sembly let us also pledge to honour in letter and spirit the spirit of Vasudhaiva Kutulllbakalll.. .
To educate our young people about the science of climate change, and train them to become activists in their communities will be a life-long agenda in our schools. While we affirm a green agenda we know that going green is not going to be an overnight change. It requires a deeper reflection, a redefinition of progress, a refining of our lifestyle. While we have become familiar with the symbol of the three chasing arrows denoting the idea Recycle, Re¬use and Recharge our real aim in school must be to teach ourselves to think Reflect, Redefine, Refine. Real progress develops creative men and women capable of developing economic policies that strengthen the community and the world while protecting the environment and promoting social equity.
Global warming impacts human lives-particularly low-income communities. It compromises their health, causes unjust financial burdens and social and cultural disruptions. Moreover, those who are most affected are least responsible for the greenhouse gas emissions that cause the problem both globally and within our country.

Practice Sustainable Economics

Sustainability indicators provide a road-map for sanity. The choice of indicators reflects how a given community defines progress. Traditional indicators, like gross domestic product (GDP) or corporate profits, reflect a faith in growth and efficiency as the primary mechanisms for improving public welfare.
However, we believe that progress is not measured by the quantity of goods we consume, how fast our market is growing, or how much wealth is being amassed. We believe progress is measured by how well we:
• Equitably distribute wealth, income,and access to cultural amenities-Ninad, Rang Veethi, Prasallg, Jashn-e-Bachpall, Dharohar-the cultural initiatives TES endorses as also by doing volunteer teaching.

• Protect and restore local or native ecosystems-take care of your local water bodies-ponds, lakes, rivers-spread the word on eco-friendly religious worship
• Advance social, economic, and environmental sustainability issues and projects- Project Sajag -sow the seeds of change and be aware how you do it

In and through our schools let us work at the local, state, and national levels to define indicators of genuine progress in these areas.


What are Genuine Progress Indicators?

At the national level, NGO fora such as CEE, CSE, TERl and CPREEC highlight and publish periodic updates on genuine progress indicators, an alternative to GDP that takes inequality, environmental degradation, and natural debt into account as well as the benefits associated with housework, parenting, volunteering, and higher education. As aware adults let us keep ourselves abreast with updates on the environment and spread the green word in the community.

Community Indicators

Our three schools in Patna, Pune and Ludhiana provide us a platform not just to talk about the environment but build a partnership with the local community to design change in small ways... after all little drops of water make the mighty ocean.