On one of those trips, up near Mussoorie, I became lost in the
thick forests. I can't have been far from the house we were staying
in, but I will never forget walking alone through the Pine trees at
night, fascinated by the idea of them - and I was only seven years
old! I don't know how many hours I must have wandered, but
eventually I heard people shouting my name. I followed the voices
and found my father, his elder brother and some men with torches
looking for me.
I was surprised by their evident concern. Even more so by the
revolver my uncle carried. Just in case we were attacked by wild
animals, he explained as he quickly hid the gun. Wild animals - wow
! - I thought. And why would anyone be afraid to be lost in these
beautiful forests? I remember my teary-eyed mother hugging me, for
she thought she had lost her precious (hah) son forever!
Years later, after immersing my mother's ashes in Hardwar, I
went back to Mussoorie , hoping to recapture some of those smells,
and memories. Hoping to recapture some of those memories of my
parents, both of whom had passed away.
But I went there to find that the forests had passed away too. I
was too late. All I could see for miles and miles were denuded
hills. Not a single tree stood even to give me some memory of a
time that had so suddenly gone by. Not even the smell.
I sat and cried grieving for my other Mother too. Earth.
The pace of the change is terrifying.
Today is the climate summit of the United Nations General
Assembly (UNGA) in New York, and is an important opportunity for
countries to boost their cooperation with one another before the
historic climate conference that will take place in Copenhagen in
December. There are less than a hundred days to go, and all eyes
and ears are turned to their negotiations.
When you read this I will have returned to the Himalayas once
again to try and highlight the dramatic changes that are taking
place in our mountains as a result of climate change. These lungs
of the world are clogging with the noxious fumes of our carbon
emissions, and the slow crawl of poison must be checked before it
is too late. The Himalayas are the largest concentration of
glaciers outside of the polar caps, and they are also receding
faster than any other in the world because of global warming.
I have always felt a connection with the mountains. I'm not sure
where exactly that connection comes from, but I know it is
something I have in common with thousands of others who have been
as lucky to visit them. I think it's the sense of humility they
impart to you: to stand there and face the immensity of nature and
try to be at one with it is a great and humbling experience; the
effect it has on you is unique.
Of course, the spirituality the Himalayas provoke isn't just
consigned to the mountain ranges: the Gangotri glacier is the
source of the Ganga, the holy mother of India. It is also shrinking
at a rate of 34m per year. That means that, by tomorrow morning, as
this paper lies outside and a fresh copy is in your hands, another
slice of glacier the thickness of your thumb will be gone. My
daughter is nine now. If we allow the retreat of these glaciers to
continue at the current rate, they'll be gone by the time she's in
her thirties. There's a real chance her children will not
experience the beauty of the Himalayan ranges and rivers.
The Gangotri supplies 70 percent of the Ganga's flow during the
dry season. If it disappears, the Ganga will become a seasonal
river, appearing only after the monsoon, its bed bare and exposed
in the summer months. What would then happen to the 50 crore people
who depend on the Ganga for sustenance, both physical and
spiritual? Since the time of the hunter-gatherers, people have
followed water. If we deny ourselves this most basic and integral
of rights, we will be left with nothing.
To mark the UNGA's climate summit, Age of Stupid is being
simultaneously screened in hundreds of cinemas in over 45 countries
around the world; Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai are hosting
viewings in India. Go. Watch it. If you don't have a ticket get
hold of a copy. The film is an artistic take on the world in 2055,
the story of an ordinary man surrounded by an environment parched
by heat and drowning in floods, looking back on the green abundance
of 2008 and the blind stupidity of its inhabitants and asking: 'Why
didn't they do something?'
Let us not be that man. Let our children not know those
sentiments. We have a responsibility to each other, to our planet
and to future generations to halt climate change. As individuals,
we must take steps to reduce our carbon emissions and encourage our
friends and family to do the same. As a nation, we must take steps
towards an decarbonised future that will afford development for our
economy without destroying our environment.
The union government has already taken laudable steps towards
this in the proposal of policies such as the Solar Mission. We must
now join in urging Dr Manmohan Singh to act of behalf of the
millions of us whose lives will never be the same again, and reach
a fair, ambitious and binding deal at the Copenhagen Climate Summit
in December.
Save the Climate
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