Till a few years back, I had no particular inclination towards issues relating to nature or environment. Of course, I was vaguely aware of the issues like pollution, global warming and effect of harmful chemicals but I always felt that there are enough people to deal with these subjects. It is totally one thing to love a serene beach or beautiful garden and quite another to worry your head off about impending natural catastrophe.
But then quite by accident one book fell into my hand, ‘The Secret Life of Plants’. Now, the title itself did not aroused any particular enthusiasm about its contents but the fact that it occupied New York Times bestsellers list in spite of such apparently uninspiring title and cover designing germinated mild curiosity in me and I flipped a few pages. For next few minutes, I was carried to an enchanting, beautiful world of plants. Now, science had prepared me into believing that plants do have life but it also said that plants are fairly primitive beings without most of the faculties we, the most evolved beings, have. However, the authors systematically destroyed the prejudice by narrating the instances which confirmed that far from being insensitive, dumb living forms, plants possesses feelings like love, hurt, fear and joy and shows unmistakable signs of wisdom and intelligence. Almost possessed, I carried the book home.
It will not be an exaggeration to say that the book changed my worldview completely. Now, whenever I happen to pass near a plant or tree, I feel like walking past an evolved being, akin to our ancient sages from whom I have much to learn. Plants have been in this planet for far longer than any other species and they have adapted to the planet remarkably well and contribute significantly to make the earth inhabitable for other species. The same can hardly be said about our species. In fact our claim of being the most evolved species on the planet seems hollow when we consider the destruction we have caused to the other life forms in general. While, we can still debate that science has been a blessing to mankind(though not conclusively), it has been an unmitigated disaster for other forms of lives around us. The book also re-introduced me to a forgotten hero, Acharya Jagadish Chanadra Bose and his genius. Forget plants, he provided proof of living characteristics even in metals. Sadly, his works have not been followed up.
Since then I have read quite a few books on nature and environment, the most noteworthy ones being'The Silent Spring' (a classic study of adverse impact of fertilisers and chemicals on the planet; one of the most influential book of our time),'One Straw Revolution'(on the face, a book on natural farming while we can gainfully employ the principles in our own life as well),'The Sick Planet'(dealt with the impact of pharmaceutical and chemical industries on our life),'The Revenge of Gaia'(the concept that the earth can be considered as a self balancing organism and how we have been responsible for its destruction),'This Changes Everything'(a thorough analysis of the destruction caused by industries and corporate greed and the alternatives humanity faces) and a few more. These studies have today convinced me that unless we give topmost priority to environmental preservation and turning the tide back towards absolute increase in forest cover, our civilisation is well in its course of extinction.
The key question is – can we do it? This may well be ultimate test of human intelligence. If we fail to change our course in spite of being fully aware of the impending catastrophe just for the sake of maintaining better lifestyle or inflating the bank balance, all our claims of mental and spiritual advancement will collapse. The Trees will be our crucial partners in this effort; perhaps teacher or guide will describe the relation better for only they can turn the cycle back, while we can play the role of supporting cast. It seems we will need an'Avatar' too – who will teach us the virtues of austerity, non violence, tolerance and simple living once again as his last incarnation did in the initial decades of last century.
My discovery of the fact that plant is sentient being has me sad too. I had lost the high moral ground for being vegetarian. Earlier I used to argue that it is morally preferable to consume vegetarian food as taking life of an animal is much crueler than taking the life of a plant as the latter cannot feel the pain. While the basic argument remains the same, I today know that even by eating vegetarian food, I am causing much suffering.
A few days back I was reading Carl Sagan. With his characteristic eloquence he justified substantial expense incurred towards contact with extra terrestrials as such contacts can revolutionize our life. I don’t agree. We have not been able to communicate successfully with other living forms around us in earth and have refused to learn from them. Why the outcome should be different when we meet living beings from other planets? Moreover, if these ETs are intelligent in the way we understand intelligence to be, they will either exploit us or be exploited by us. Our high morals and altruistic tendencies has extremely narrow definition; it often ends with our own family, community, country and at the most, species.
The time is running out for most of us. Most of our cities have already turned unlivable and unless urgent and drastic measures are taken, we are staring at a catastrophe of unimaginable magnitude. We are staring at crisis of very basic necessities of lives - air to breathe, water to drink and food to eat. May be the richer among us will survive in their air conditioned captivities or beach villas for a few decades longer but ultimately they too will face the same destiny as the rest of the humanity.
Can humanity pass this test?
