The reason behind this instant blog is a call I made to my wife.. As usual I just went outside of the office cabin and was peeping through the window while waiting for the other end to pick it up. But the deep sleep and silent mode might be the reason for not answering my call, I knew she might be tired and fall asleep.
Approximate 500 mtrs away I can see the modern monument , prestige for the communist government coming up at infopark called Athulya, Few north Indian workers were calling the nature in their hurry to give the finishing touches to the building. This land was a short cut by walk to the infopark in 2005 not sure how many of you might have traveled or trekked through that adventurous path. Monsoon it used to be slippery. Just below the area which is near to the building I stand my eyes were searching for that greenery which was very visible till last week or two weeks ago. I was bit sad by the fact the lush green bushes and trees had disappeared along with beautiful and different types of birds and butterflies instead what I could see is the hard working JCB’s and TATA HITACHI’s and few HMT tractors and interestingly giving them more and more work load by the notorious tippers of cochin. Some where they flatten the hill and mountains to get the soil to fill these water bodies, ponds creeks, gutters,…occasionally the contractors Toyota innova used to ply to make sure the filling is done quickly and to have his business calculation ends up in profit. I was astonished to see such changes happening so fast, it toally changed the demography of the virgin land. The habitat transforms in the developmental tsunami.
Development comes through the sacrifice of valuable natural resources and eco system. I know few of you will feel sad. For human beings when your habitat is taken away for development you get a replacement for your land. Do we have any law telling that every tree you chop should be replaced by three saplings and these saplings should be taken cared by the builder for the coming 1 year? Before cutting the tree, every bird nest should be kept till the eggs are hatched..Sounds funny right but it is not funny my friend. Nature is like our mother, she has supreme patience levels the worst she does is withdrawal and we know the vacuum it creates. Like wise our nature also does the same but in different forms, it becomes wilder as if it has lost its life and soul. Don’t realize what it does and how it will behave.
If you are working at Thapsya building of Infopark, this the classic and vintage building of Infopark is the first and oldest still having it’s own charm and beauty. It was like a ground zero few years back. This lonely building stood like a legend and now the landmarks are brand new ones. Every afternoon it was a great feeling to stand on the rear exit stair area which gives you a panoramic view of its back yard as well as afternoon breeze from the west. Inside the boundary walls you can see few trees and one near to it has many flowers and more birds than the flowers. There was one family of dogs 2 infants and a mother. Recently they have disappeared. Some of us were telling about these dogs about their luck to be inside the secured walls of infopark. I felt too thinking they are the lucky doggies with no scarcity for food.
Let us look beyond the wall.. it’s all green.. There used to be so many birds.. From bulbul to maina … if I cans earch the scientific names I bet it will cross more than 15.
There used to be a water body with green coated surface with the weed. Somany birds used to relax on the shore. The accasia tree used to be their favorite joint. Even it doesn’t look like a man made beautiful garden, but it definitely looked a rough natural surrounding with these natural elements. The small break gives your eyes an unmatched comfort by looking at these living things.
When I rewind my thoughts about development especially on constructions..in the past what you and me have seen is temples and forts ..but did they really spoil the eco system? Do they replace more greenery? I wonder sometimes why we human not trying compensate for what we spoil. It is true we can’t live without modern facilities. But what we can do and what we are not doing is not giving healing touches to the wound we are making as well as we have made to the nature. We make fun of any social activist who raises her or his voice against such destruction in the name of construction.
But being an optimist I hope who ever builds the huge parks will or should provide ample area for the trees and vegetation.
Just feel like telling those birds…
Dear birds I miss you along with my friends. Wish I can hear your chirps and songs. Your cute little flights against the breeze give me some comfort to watch. Where did you go? Hope you found a place where no other parks will come and take away your trees and ponds. I hope this summer is not that tough for you but let’s hope the monsoon will be here soon. I spotted few of your friends on those few trees waiting to be chopped, wish you had taken them with you…! Wish could tell them these trees will also go soon..!
