Stealing From Our Grandchildren
The Oscar winning documentary, ‘Elephant Whisperer’ is a heart warming account of love between humans and animals in the resplendence of the natural beauty of Mudumalai National Park. The viewer marvels at Nature’s creation, the human ability to love, and reciprocation from an animal. However, love amongst animals or with animals lacks intergenerationality. The offspring of Raghoo, the elephant, will not carry forward the relationship that existed with his caregivers – Bomman and Bellie. Amongst the characteristics that distinguishes humans from animals are speech, language, consciousness, tool use, art, music, material culture, commerce, agriculture, non‑reproductive sex and mental time travel.
We can think about our past, contemplate our present and visualise our future. Clairvoyants even claim to perceive future events beyond the range of sensory contact. While many animals have intelligence and display behaviours that we’d consider as human, as evident in Raghoo, the range is limited. The supreme manifestation of advanced consciousness and mental ability make humans the only species on the planet that can care and think for not only their children but also their grandchildren and beyond. In the animal world we find pairings for life and and either the male or the female parent taking care of their progeny, but caring for the progeny’s progeny is not observed. This is a distinguishing feature which bestows on humans an enormous burden of responsibilities which no other species on earth has to carry.
In our epics we find several generations co-existing. The oldest participant of the Mahabharata War was Shantanu’s elder brother Bahlika, representing the first generation, while Ashwatthama, son of Dronacharya, was a sixth generation participant. Even in present times, with life expectancy extended by medical science we find in a family the great-grandfather along with the great grandchild. As this becomes a prevalent phenomenon, in our own lifetimes, we have to face the prospect of answering to not only our children or grandchildren but even to those who come after them.
When medical science and Nature has given us this blessing of long life and the ability to love several generations of our progeny, it is our solemn and sacred duty to ensure that the world we leave behind is livable for our successive generations. Earth Overshoot Day (EOD) marks the date when humanity has used all the biological resources that Earth regenerates during the entire year. In 2022, EOD was on July 28. For the rest of 2022, we maintained ecological deficit by drawing down local resource stocks and accumulating carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Every year we are running a deficit which is subject to the viciousness of negative compounding. In 2023, the EOD is likely to be sooner, as humanity’s performance has steadily declined since 1971, when it was estimated that the draw down of Earth’s resources could be replenished in a year.
When we are overshooting, we are taking a loan that we can not only never repay but will make our children sink under the debt burden. We will not leave behind clean air, water, soil and food for them to thrive. The recklessness with which we are destroying the planet will leave no elephant for our children to whisper to. The imperative is to undertake climate action at mega-scale. Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE) is not a mantra but a toolkit for survival of the human race. We have to push back the EOD from July to December, every year, or our own children will accuse us of theft. Rabindranath Tagore said “every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged by man”. The present generations have to leave behind such an Earth that the child is not discouraged by man.
