समुद्रवसने देवि पर्वतस्तनमण्डले ।
विष्णुपत्नि नमस्तुभ्यं पादस्पर्शं क्षमस्वमे ॥
O Goddess, one
who is clothed in the waters of the oceans,
and have
the mountains as your bosom,
O wife of
Lord Vishnu, I salute you,
Please
forgive me as I touch your holy body with my feet.
This is the mantra our Hindu ancestors chanted before they stepped out of bed every morning. They held a reverence for Mother Earth who blessed them bountifully.
*
Recently a teenaged girl named Greta Thunberg from Sweden rang alarm bells in the corridors of power about the harm caused to the planet by humans, and brought to light how climate change would affect the future of young people like her.
With her stern face and the audacity to rebuke world leaders, she reminded me of Hermione from the Harry Potter series. Unlike Hermione, Greta was real and had the courage to take on those who made world decisions. As usual, there was applause and felicitations. However, Greta refused the awards showered on her and that provided a fulcrum to the cause she championed.
Regretfully, there were also people who thought Greta was being unreasonable and that her ‘handlers’ had political motives.
Anyways, Greta lumbers on unhindered and is presently sharing a boat on the Atlantic to return home.
The world will be grateful for you, Greta.
*
Today I am staring at an odd assortment of objects – a used ball point pen, a sticker removed from an apple peel, an egg carton, an empty bottle of shampoo, an expired light bulb, and grocery receipts.
I have been fortunate enough in this life to have received an education and been made aware of responsible disposal of waste. So, I segregate our household waste into wet and dry. The dry waste is further categorized into paper, glass, hardboard, and metal. There was a facility at my daughter’s school in Muscat to dispose these in different sections in a disposal unit placed near the school.
However, here in India, it seems like we need more awareness among citizens and leaders about this. We need someone like Greta who can grab us by our collars and make us feel responsible for climate change. If there is a change in a greatly populated country like ours, it does make a big difference in the overall world statistics.
*
In the news there was a report on a meeting of Catholic leaders where questions were raised about how humans are responsible for climate change and whether harming the environment should be considered sinful. There were calls for including such sins in confessions.
Yes, it is about time we felt the guilt and restored the health of Mother Earth to pacify her so that she continues to bless us.
