The cawing of the crow
chick (baby) was incessant. It fell a few branches down from its nest in the
tree, and as its tiny wings are not fully and properly formed, it could not fly
back to the nest. It was hobbling and cawing for its parents, who could not be
seen in the vicinity. I am no tree climber to help it, but wanted to see
whether I can net the tiny crow chick and place it back in its nest.
For this, I needed to
first locate the nest and then a fruit picking net. I walked out of my
mezzanine floor apartment and pressed for the lift – only to realise that there
was no power in the building. I started climbing and climbed and climbed till I
could reach the roof top on 6th floor, from where I intended seeing
the top of the tree and the nest, if it is there.
My climb ended and I
looked around and was aghast to find that the tree is not there anymore. In
fact, there is not a single tree, in the entire radius, as much till the eye
could see.
Everywhere there are only
high rise buildings; each one costing Indian Rupees 15 million and above. It is
like a city in a desert straight out of Arabian Nights.
The roof was hot and
suddenly, on scalding my naked feet, I realised how hot it has been there. To
cool my feet, I opened the water tap that is used to spray water on to the roof
top in the evenings, but only heard the empty hiss. I remembered that water was
not reaching beyond a couple of floors of the apartment as the pressure was not
sufficient.
I could not take in the
heat, any more, on my diabetic feet and started hollering in anguish, only to
wake up on my bed in the comfort of my bedroom.
So it was a dream! No,
not a dream; a nightmare and God, what a nightmare? How foolish of me. Forget
the crows and nests; I cannot see any more trees for a long time unless some
maverick starts a more aggressive movement for growing trees and forests
instead of money and houses, which is happening now!
Infrastructure
development and real estate business is being seen as the fastest money earning
vehicles and we are all chasing them without seriously realising that we are
only running to become slaves! And to facilitate all protocols and procedures –
straight or clandestine, we want to closet and cuddle with the politicians -
wielding the power!
There is a saying that
if you have little money you control the money. But when you have money that
you can neither count nor take a pause to spend, you are controlled by the
money. You mistakenly think you are empowered by earning money which is only
true as long as it is in limits. But by chasing more and more money, you are
empowering the money to control you and to enslave you.
Yes, money is important
as we need to have some purchase power for leading our lives? But how much is
enough? And when do we say enough - when we cannot get enough money anymore?
Money is not uniform; in that it is called by different names in different contexts and countries.
In a place of worship it is called an ‘Offering’
In
a marriage it is called ‘Dowry’
In
divorce it is called ‘Alimony’ and
What children get is a ‘Pocket
Money’
When you pay the government it is a ‘Tax’
In a court of law it is called a ‘Fine’
What
the retirees receive is a ‘Pension’ and
What
the workers receive is a ‘Wage Salary’
When you borrow it is a ‘Loan’
But
what you owe someone it is a ‘Debt’
What an accident victim gets is a ‘Compensation’ and
What an accident victim gets is a ‘Compensation’ and
When you
save that money it is ‘Savings’
When you want an unlawful work done you pay a ‘Bribe’
What some politicians get in deals is a ‘Kickback’
While
the same when earned by a broker is a ‘Commission’ and
By a serving
waiter in a restaurant it is a ‘Tip’
If a country gives money to another it is an ‘Aid’
An
institution to an institution it is ‘Support’
An
individual to an institution is ‘Donation’ and
An
individual to another individual is ‘Charity Alms’
But it is universal in
one single important fact - that it has the ‘power’. The power of exchange; the
power of purchase; the power of control and in one single word something that
has been converted from being a simple instrument to an instrument of ‘power’! Well,
now we see, that is the power of ‘power’!
Picture clip courtesy (c) Chromaco www.ClipartOf.com/1098025
And the construction
industry is trying to get this power of ‘power’ by sometimes spreading out
indiscriminately into areas that should be preserved.
To construct more and
more cities, we are cutting off age old trees, using good agricultural lands
and filling good water sources like ponds and lakes. No wonder, we are
suffering for want of electricity power, natural water and steep rise in cost
of food products.
If we are
indiscriminately chasing the money making factories like these, what are we
going to eat in future? Are we going to eat Bricks and Cement or Gold, Diamonds
and the Paper that money is printed upon? When will we realise the futility of
such mad enterprises and realise the importance of natural resources and agriculture?
Though several forums and
the governments are doing some work in regard to mitigating the situation,
how far these efforts
correlate with the destruction, is what is being looked at in alacrity!
Louis L’Amour, in his
1969 book ‘The Lonely Men’, averred that ‘The Desert is the Enemy of the
Careless’ but I would easily like to postulate that ‘We, being Careless, are
Creating the Deserts’
How fair is it to remove
more and more ‘green cover’ to make more and more ‘green bucks’?
You
tell me!
Till
then,
Krutagjnatalu
(Telugu), Nanri (Tamil), Dhanyavaadagalu (Kannada), Nanni (Malayalam),
Dhanyavaad (Hindi), Thanks (English), Dhonyabaad (Bangla), Gracias (Spanish),
Grazie (Italian), Danke Schon (Deutsche), Merci (French), Obrigado
(Portuguese), Shukraan (Arabic), Shukriya (Urdu), Aw-koon (Khmer), Kawp Jai
Lhai Lhai (Laotian), Kob Kun Krab (Thai) and Asante (Kiswahili).
Hemantha Kumar
Pamarthy
Chennai, India
