Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.
Garbage jammed streets, filthy rivers, unbreathable air and to make it worse, the crowd's indifference to all this. These were some of the spectacles that I observed when growing up. "So, what is this madness our world is displaying?" I asked myself many times as a boy. As I grew up, the answer started to become a little clear. But it was after watching Leonardo Di Caprio's 'The 11th Hour' I understood the real picture. Not that I was earlier oblivious to the fact that we our assaulting the place we live in, but it made me understand the gravity of the situation. I was able to conclude that if we have to give ourselves even the slightest of chance, there is no better moment to act than now.
Environmental problems, however obvious they may be, are increasing in magnitude every second. Earlier, whenever I heard the phrase related to saving our planet, I had a sense of sympathy and pity towards it. But, I realized that, planetary collisions aside, the planet is here to stay no matter what we do. However selfish it may sound, but the fact is that we have no one but us to worry about and blame for putting ourselves in such a situation. What we call Man's power over Nature turns out to be a power exercised by some men over other men with Nature as its instrument. These words by C.S. Lewis are absolutely true. The major polluters of the environment are mostly people who are much more 'educated' than the average Joe. It came as a revelation to me and I just could not take my mind of the fact that people, even after knowing all the ground realities, were still treating it as a problem that would pass by.
I have been a firm believer in cleanliness since I can remember. So, for me the solution was to 'clean' our environment. In India, the general consensus among people is that if a place is already filthy there is no harm in making it even filthier. This, according to them, justifies their act of throwing waste on the public places. After my efforts of stopping some of my friends from throwing their food leftovers and the polythene carry-bags looked to have no effect on them, I decided to just quietly pick up the waste and throw it in the dustbin. Initially it made me a laughing stock as they thought that I was just wasting my time. But after many 'pick ups', they realized that they had no right to complain about how dirty the roads are or how the government is not doing enough, if they continue to neglect their surroundings.
The problem has changed my attitude in numerous ways, but not my optimism. I remain positive about the future of humans and believe we can use the organ which we are so proud of and use it to try and cherish nature's beauty.
What outlook do you get of me through this??
Please make a change wherever you feel is necessary....
Thanks a ton!!!!
Garbage jammed streets, filthy rivers, unbreathable air and to make it worse, the crowd's indifference to all this. These were some of the spectacles that I observed when growing up. "So, what is this madness our world is displaying?" I asked myself many times as a boy. As I grew up, the answer started to become a little clear. But it was after watching Leonardo Di Caprio's 'The 11th Hour' I understood the real picture. Not that I was earlier oblivious to the fact that we our assaulting the place we live in, but it made me understand the gravity of the situation. I was able to conclude that if we have to give ourselves even the slightest of chance, there is no better moment to act than now.
Environmental problems, however obvious they may be, are increasing in magnitude every second. Earlier, whenever I heard the phrase related to saving our planet, I had a sense of sympathy and pity towards it. But, I realized that, planetary collisions aside, the planet is here to stay no matter what we do. However selfish it may sound, but the fact is that we have no one but us to worry about and blame for putting ourselves in such a situation. What we call Man's power over Nature turns out to be a power exercised by some men over other men with Nature as its instrument. These words by C.S. Lewis are absolutely true. The major polluters of the environment are mostly people who are much more 'educated' than the average Joe. It came as a revelation to me and I just could not take my mind of the fact that people, even after knowing all the ground realities, were still treating it as a problem that would pass by.
I have been a firm believer in cleanliness since I can remember. So, for me the solution was to 'clean' our environment. In India, the general consensus among people is that if a place is already filthy there is no harm in making it even filthier. This, according to them, justifies their act of throwing waste on the public places. After my efforts of stopping some of my friends from throwing their food leftovers and the polythene carry-bags looked to have no effect on them, I decided to just quietly pick up the waste and throw it in the dustbin. Initially it made me a laughing stock as they thought that I was just wasting my time. But after many 'pick ups', they realized that they had no right to complain about how dirty the roads are or how the government is not doing enough, if they continue to neglect their surroundings.
The problem has changed my attitude in numerous ways, but not my optimism. I remain positive about the future of humans and believe we can use the organ which we are so proud of and use it to try and cherish nature's beauty.
What outlook do you get of me through this??
Please make a change wherever you feel is necessary....
Thanks a ton!!!!
