My heart was overflowing with joy. We (tourists) were in a Backwater Cruise at Allepey, Kerela in a Lake. My friends were joyous, laughing and chatting merrily. The atmosphere around me was that of Ecstasy and as far as I remember, this is the kind of atmosphere that gets my grey cells working… That is something good, since they had hardly worked at all from the very outset of the tour to Kerela. I was a little away from them, looking out of a small window. For the first half an hour I was very happy with the natural beauty around me. I was pleasantly surprised to see such beauty in Kerala. The noises and dust of Hyderabad never let me see or hear through them, or was I ignorant? Either way, I never expected to see SO much beauty around me. I think it was because I looked at the lake and its vicinity as one. I didn’t concentrate only on the lake…
It was then that I looked at a plastic bottle floating in water. Then slowly I started concentrating on the lake itself, and not its surroundings. Everything fell into place. Then I could see that a man was mercilessly throwing waste in the water. As it always happens to me when I start going back in time (not literally) or I start thinking, everything was now a void of darkness. Nothing else mattered at that moment. The words I had read in a book hit the right spot…
“The wheels have been in motion for a long time. Science has won the war. But, Science has left us in a world without wonder. We are bombarded with violence, division, fracture and betrayal. Man took thousands of years to progress from wheel to car. Yet only decades from the car into space. Now we measure Scientific progress in weeks. We are spinning out of control. The promises of Science have not been kept. Promises of efficiency and simplicity have bred nothing but pollution and chaos. We are a fractured and frantic species… moving down a path of destruction.”
I was wondering till now whether all this was true… Till now I held a very high regard for Science. I had placed it somewhere near God. Yet now, I questioned my unblemished faith in Science and development.
I somehow felt that such atrocity, like throwing plastic bottles in a lake must reach the people. So, I took a photo of the floating bottle. I questioned myself all over again: Science and its progress led to the invention of plastic and its disposal in such a manner. Yet it is Science which allows me write this… to spread the word… I was left with an awkward question. It was like deciding whether I should be friends with a person who has lied to me once and yet, has saved my life recently. I had to decide- Must I still trust Science? Science is not the cause for this, nor can we ever blame it. But who is the cause is hardly the question here.
Again I remembered something I had read- The world is not divided into black and white. It is in shades of grey. Now I began to see the third path- The mist that hid it from me had cleared. The path was one of moderation. Neither love not hate, neither like nor dislike, neither trust nor mistrust, it was one of unbiased judgement...
It was then that I looked at a plastic bottle floating in water. Then slowly I started concentrating on the lake itself, and not its surroundings. Everything fell into place. Then I could see that a man was mercilessly throwing waste in the water. As it always happens to me when I start going back in time (not literally) or I start thinking, everything was now a void of darkness. Nothing else mattered at that moment. The words I had read in a book hit the right spot…
“The wheels have been in motion for a long time. Science has won the war. But, Science has left us in a world without wonder. We are bombarded with violence, division, fracture and betrayal. Man took thousands of years to progress from wheel to car. Yet only decades from the car into space. Now we measure Scientific progress in weeks. We are spinning out of control. The promises of Science have not been kept. Promises of efficiency and simplicity have bred nothing but pollution and chaos. We are a fractured and frantic species… moving down a path of destruction.”
I was wondering till now whether all this was true… Till now I held a very high regard for Science. I had placed it somewhere near God. Yet now, I questioned my unblemished faith in Science and development.
I somehow felt that such atrocity, like throwing plastic bottles in a lake must reach the people. So, I took a photo of the floating bottle. I questioned myself all over again: Science and its progress led to the invention of plastic and its disposal in such a manner. Yet it is Science which allows me write this… to spread the word… I was left with an awkward question. It was like deciding whether I should be friends with a person who has lied to me once and yet, has saved my life recently. I had to decide- Must I still trust Science? Science is not the cause for this, nor can we ever blame it. But who is the cause is hardly the question here.
Again I remembered something I had read- The world is not divided into black and white. It is in shades of grey. Now I began to see the third path- The mist that hid it from me had cleared. The path was one of moderation. Neither love not hate, neither like nor dislike, neither trust nor mistrust, it was one of unbiased judgement...
Wow cool! Dont blame science for the evils. It is man. The bottle was not meant for throwing on the water--was it? when a wise man decided to hold things in a container, he did not anticipate a moron throwing it--or did he?
ReplyDeleteExcellent post! I am so glad this has gotten you thinking. The root cause of the issue is man. He invents/ed, and destroys/ed. But there is still time and you can help. Awareness is everything. It is intelligent people like you who come in the picture to make a grass roots effort to do that. Set an example of not littering to your friends, make a campaign in school against it, get volunteers to recycle, pretty soon, you will actually be on the road to appreciate the good things that science has given us, and strike that fine balance. I am really impressed with your writing, and thought process. Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteMan invents plastic bottle.
ReplyDeleteMan makes plastic bottle.
Man uses plastic bottle.
Man throws plastic bottle.
Blame man not science.