The World that was... The World that is...

Indians ( people from INDIA), if you ask me, have been the most nature friendly people apart from probably the other south east asian countries like China etc. When I say this, I completely exclude the modern, cosmopolitan lot that's globetrotting, earning the big moolah and care a damn about nature or being natural.

What I meant was the the time and world that I grew up in.

This is an attempt to compare the world that I grew up in vis-a-vis the world that my daughter is growing up in.

I was brought up in an Industrial township called Mithapur. Run by the Tatas, the township was a model one. Life was one straight line like the road from my home to the seashore. We would have seen the beach more than a zillion times but each time even after that was a treat. The green ocean, the seagulls, the fishing boats in the horizon, the golden sun and the beautiful seashells-- everytime everything looked so different. So inspite of the pollution from the company, beach breeze was felt far from being polluted. Many a times I think, God must have a smoke seive ( if there is any such thing)up there to not let any of it settle in. Thinking rationally, I feel it could be because there was absolutely no pollution from the vehicles. Nobody drove any vehicles back then. All the commutation was by walking or the bicycle. There were only 2 or 3 cars in the entire township, if I remember correctly.

While today, my daughter, has already lived in 4 countries and she isn't even a year old! She has suffered the traffic, the incessant honking on the road and all pollution in its cruellest form already. She hasn't seen the sea ever and doesn't know what a cool, gentle sea breeze feels like. Cars and airplanes are the only mode of commutation she's experienced and how she hates being on the air plane!

During my growing up years, we made this annual visit to our grandparents' homes in kerala. They lived in a village and so the life there was even simpler than what we were used to in Mithapur. My grandmother used to churn the curd to bring the butter out of it and all the grandchildren got to taste it. Trust me, even today I remember how amazing it tasted. It was pure and tasted so. She grew vegetables in her back yard using organic fertilizer. She plucked them off everyday to make curries for the entire family. Meal times were like get togethers with conversation, laughter, fun, teasing and great food.

My daughter accompanies us to the supermarket for our weekly shopping and she looks forward to it. This is because she loves watching people. Through out the week she hardly gets to see anybody other than me, my husband and the maid. So the trip to the supermarket is a fun activity for her where she coo coos at other kids in the alley.

Back in Mithapur, I remember my mum and dad shopping for vegetables in the local market. What I do not remember is them carrying plastic bags with their goods. They always took their shopping bag ( A cloth bag or a jute bag) with them when they went shopping for groceries.

Today, with each shopping trip the pile of plastic bags tucked away in my store rooms is increasing day by day. It is scary and scary to the evxtent that one night I had a dream where I saw my house filling up with multi-colored bags and we could not breath. There were plastic like things all around us and I even smelt like plastic. Got to do something about it about this as there is no recycling policy here in Manama.

When it rained in Mithapur or in Kerala, my brother and I went out in the first rains to get drenched. It was quite an experience! Then we went to our friends' places, gathered them all and took off to the beach for a swim.

Now first rains are far from being an experience because it brings with it all the fumes, acid and the smoke. I would dread to ever let Mimi go out in the first rains.

I just hope and pray that Mimi gets to enjoy a few of these wonders. I fear that she wouldn't even know what those wonderful things were like. I might have to take her to a museum to show her photographs, relics, constructs. I imagine a time where we would have to buy her tickets to shows and rinks where she could experience natural -like breeze and rain. I fear, she might be growing up in a world where her parents would have to pay for the oxygen to breathe because the whole world would be so polluted that it would be life threatening to walk around without oxygen masks.

I fear.