“Jungle jungle pataa chalaa hai, chaddi pehan ke phool khila hai, phool khila hai.” This song from the Jungle Book television series is the first thing that comes to my mind when I think about the forests. Who does not remember sitting in front of the TV every Sunday morning waiting to get a glimpse of lush green forests, animals, birds, and people living in those forests. Imagine a new episode where all the trees are gone, the animals are getting killed on railway tracks, and Mowgli being employed to mine coal to power houses in the cities. Not fun anymore, is it?
Imagine a chapter on ‘forests’ in history books instead of geography for school kids.
Imagine tears in our eyes when we listen to the song ‘Chahe koi mujhe jungli kahe’.
Imagine camping in barren lands.
Imagine Bollywood movies with couples singing around coal mines.
Or just imagine Tom Hanks in Mine Gump.
I know these reasons do not build my case but don’t they tell us the importance of forests in our lives?
Forests are a carbon sink. Forests are important for wildlife. Forests are a hub of biodiversity. There are many other reasons to save the forests but obviously those out to destroy forests don’t care about them, do they?
Their argument is that India is on a high development path and it is foolish romance to think that we can keep our forests and still develop at the same rate. Development has to be sustainable and there are ways of ensuring that. But those governing our country are so ‘smart’.
If that’s the case, then I am proud to be a FOOL! A FOOL FOR FORESTS!
Become a Fool, save the forests: http://foolsforforests.org/english/join/?src=blog