Almost Spring in our Garden

A shock of pink

 A stone pile...for some Zen

Our new kitty, Nyx, is not impressed. She rolls up her eyes and sticks out her tongue.

 Grass growing on the rooftop

 Some glitter of gold

Snack time

Being the Change

 

This house is like a poem– a poem that is simple and rich with meaning. One that comes from the heart and touches the lives of those who read it.

This house is aptly called Hridayalaya– the house where the heart resides. Mahatma Gandhi built this house in the centre of the Sabarmati Ashram; it radiates positive energy across the surrounds.

It features Gandhiji’s room, his wife’s room, one guest room and a tiny kitchen. The rooms are small with stone floors and single shelves in the walls. In the backyard, a little gate opens up leading to the Sabarmati River, placidly flowing by. The simplicity and austerity of the structure, and of the great soul it housed, is remarkable. Gandhi wore cloth from cotton that he spun himself, ate frugal meals, used the blank sides of used paper for writing and walked wherever he could. 

The Ashram complex at the banks of the Sabarmati River in the western Indian state of Gujarat has several houses, a museum, a library and a gallery called “My life is my message”. Recently, we visited this sanctuary, returning greatly inspired to do our bit for a sustainable environment. 

Gandhi himself said, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”

***

On postings and travels around the world, we observed people incorporating sustainability into their everyday lives: promoting cloth, reusable diapers in the farmer’s market in Reading, the citizens of Singapore with their strong civic duty who strive to maintain their green and blue spaces, the harvesting of powerful wind energy with traditional and modern windmills in the Netherlands. The more we observed, the more we learnt about how to effectively protect the environment. 

My family presently calls Oman home. A few years ago, The Ecological Society of Oman distributed shopping bags made of jute to encourage shoppers to bring their own reusable and sustainable bags. It did bring about a change and inculcated a sense of responsibility in caring for the world that we inhabit. There was a palpable awareness among Omanis and expatriates of the need to reduce the use of non-biodegradable, polythene bags. Since then, there has been an increase in the number of responsible shoppers, bringing their own bags for shopping.

Around this time, some friends and I held an exhibition-cum-art sale with crafts and homemade food from our various nations (Malaysia, Italy, Australia, India and the Netherlands) to fundraise for the victims of natural disasters in Indonesia in 2010 and in Japan in 2011. Some friends helped me to organise the event in my garden, whilst others provided the canopies for shade and still others gave the event a green touch by displaying items from the Ecological Society of Oman. To reinforce the sustainable living message, we encouraged visitors to bring their own plates for takeaway food and bags to carry their purchases home. We were surprised by the enthusiastic response- each and every visitor, including children, took the message seriously, turning up with their own plates, boxes, and bags. 

It is indeed heartening to see how schools in Oman and around the world are bringing awareness to the issue of sustainable development. In my daughter’s school, children are asked to bring lunch and snack boxes without any disposable packaging. This practice in childhood goes a long way in cultivating life-long, eco-friendly habits. Children learn quickly that it is important for citizens of all nations to adopt a green lifestyle and use natural resources wisely.

***

In her ancient house, my grandmother served dinner on plates that were more than fifty years old. Our ancestors protected the earth for our sake. It is now our responsibility to preserve our natural heritage for the sake of future generations. 

It is time to ‘be the change’.

(This article was also published in Destinations, Spring/Summer 2017, an International journal published by Outpost, the Shell expatriate network.)