I grew up in the city of Hyderabad, a city known for the Nizams, the iconic Golconda Fort, the perfect Irani chai and of course, the flavourful biryani. Every day, amid the hustle and bustle of its narrow streets and busy lanes, the heart of the city comes to life. Although Hyderabad has become a cosmopolitan city now, it was a haven for rich wildlife and vegetation back when I was still growing up.
Those days, my friends and I rode our bicycles early in the mornings. We drove through the quiet roads of a still asleep city. We went to a neighbouring park to spot colourful peacocks pecking at the ground with their mates. Once, it started drizzling, and we saw a peacock spread open its feathers. I can still vividly remember our delighted faces. There were parrots resting in our front porch, and we could hear the cuckoo sing almost every other morning. Unfortunately, as time ran on, houses became duplexes and multiplexes, parks became construction sites, and our rivers became hoarders of industrial effluents — no more peacocks or parrots or cuckoos. To be perfectly candid, we got so accustomed to this gradual destruction that we didn’t even notice it for quite some time.
By age 13, I turned to watch documentaries, and that was how I discovered some indigestible truths. The first time I experienced actual heartache was when I watched a video of a bunch of people trying to pull out a plastic straw from the nose of a sea turtle. It screeched and shrieked in pain. But all I could do was sit with my eyes glued to the screen and watch as the torture unfolded. I felt helpless. That is when I realised how quickly we were devouring our planet and how good we were at pretending otherwise.
We have all heard about climate change and global warming. Yet, at the end of the day, we forget about them. We choose to do that because our privilege lets us do so. But for how long are we going to remain ignorant of the imminent dangers of our negligence? When will we as a society take collective responsibility to resist reckless environmental degradation? Most important, will it be too late before we wake up and realize that we are moving towards a greying planet? Our generation might have inherited this reality, but ours is the only generation with a chance to save the fate of humanity.
There is a famous belief that love is the answer to everything. I believe so too. Love indeed is the sentiment that we need right now. No amount of science and technology can empower humanity in the absence of love. We need to be emphatic and compassionate towards our environment and protect it for posterity. Only then can we expect to see a harmonious community with the peacocks dancing and the cuckoos singing just like the good old days. So, as the proverbial saying goes, the ball indeed is in our court now.
