Living or Coexistence

The term living should be replaced with coexistence. We as humans get so much lost in our lives that we forget about the millions of other living species which also inhabit our home-the planet Earth. We do not have harmony and peace even within human species. Our brazen misuse and exploitation of the planet has been going on for hundred of years to make our lives more comfortable. But now we can see the consequences coming up not only in the form of natural disasters but many man made disasters. Unfortunately it looks like we still do not realise the seriousness of the matter as one race.  As I see it some of our basic traits like fear, greed and ego run very high not only at the individual level but also at the state level. The problems arising on account of these have led to widespread mistrust if not exactly hatred, huge difference in the distribution of wealth and resources. Settling the matters with in our own human race is a huge challenge, unless each of us overcomes the ego and greed on individual level. Living our lives the way it is going on, we are not creating problems for ourselves, but putting in danger the existence of many other living species, many of them already are extinct.  We live our lives so involved in our materialistic world, that, we never realise some very basic facts which I shall continue in my next post.

Some shots in the Himalayas !

 The  Alaknanda

A beautiful sight

the earth hour !

While observing earth hour on 31st, something I came across -

You must treat the earth well. It was not given to you by your parents. It is loaned to you by your children.  (which is a Kikuyu (Kenya) Saying )

in a restaurant in Haldwani, a town in Uttrakhand during our recent trip to the Himalayas kept coming again and again to my mind.

Now one does not need to have super intelligence to make sense out of it. But still the way we live and treat the earth is anything but anywhere near this sentiment.  In fact the more I think about it more worried I am for what we are going to leave for our children.  Generally it is our very selfish and narrow attitude towards life that makes us live in this manner. But for me the same attitude of selfishness forces to think what I am leaving for my child. Is bringing him up with good education,  providing him with comforts in life, all I need to do for him? I do not think so. I would like my child to live in a world, where love and trust is not only confined to small circles of family and friends  but to all the inhabitants of the planet, earth . I would like to leave this world with natural resources-forests, water,oil etc. for them.

Fortunately or unfortunately(depends upon what you think, former for me) we  have to live our lives with a much more broader outlook in order to make the world/planet a better place or even leave it the way we got it.  If I think about what all needs to be done I just get overwhelmed by enormity of the task and feel helpless and depressed. But I have decided to do whatever I can do in my capacity and I believe anything or everything will change when all of us take this attitude and am sure there are many others who feel the same.  I shall save water, electricity, trees, gas, petrol to whatever extent I can  and I hope you all will. Let us try to leave a better place for our children.  So  let us observe many more undeclared earth hours to save our natural resources.

chal manna !

chal manna hun kuj kariye,  te chal  phir agge wadhiye,
Bahut ho gaye bhane shane, bahut ho gaye lare lappe,
phir to ek chlang mariye, te phir to koi hud tappye.
har ek dar nu piche chad ke, har ek shuk nu jaron mita ke,
josh apne nu, jor  apne nu, ekitha kar ke,
chal manna hun kuj kariye, te chal phir agge wadiye.

(this is written in punjabi-my mother tongue)

two difficult emotions !

The two emotions which are not only difficult to handle but cause immense trouble when we operate under their influence are anger and fear. I do not think they are independent of each other. I feel keeping in check these two, most of the problems can be handled in personal as well as societal life. I happened to see an incident yesterday which reminded me of this simple fact again.

Let me not do it !

Why is it so easy for humans to pass judgement about others ?
Why do we conclude quickly just looking at the superficial level ?
It is just being insensitive or indifferent to some one's feelings. After all unless you yourself go through the motions some one has gone through you will not appreciate it fully.
 
In other words, never ever, dear self jump to conclusion when it concerns others. I repeat this fact to myself, every time I get hurt on account of being (mis)judged by the other wise men/women. One such moment is just passing by and am sure will not last long. Many a times it is not really worth trying to clarify or prove yourself but this time I take it as a challenge to prove some one  wrong(over a period of next three years). Amen !

I wonder

Sometimes I wonder, as a parent, while bringing up our kids we teach them or learn from them. Or may be to put it right this should not be a question at all. It is obviously both ways. We teach them and we learn from them. Many times while trying to give my 'Calvin' a dose of wisdom in simple or complicated way, I feel probably I need it to be implemented in my life first. I feel it is a kind of  having double standards in your life. Preach one thing and practice something else. It is so easy to demand from others to change and an uphill task to bring the change in you. But certainly this way I feel the pressure to bring out that change, much more on myself. Learning is a life long process, right from our birth to death we do learn something or the other in many different ways and from many different sources.
Among the various methods to learn I have come across till now,
I find this one very effective.