AC and Acs...

-

A friend of mine sent this in a common group.

“Pray for our city, especially those with no means and resources to face these terrible days. I am down with a heatstroke. But I am grateful to have my doctor son care for me at home. I feel deeply for the poor and the slum dwellers. May the Good Lord intervene and save us all.”

 

I have been complaining about how hot the city I live in was, little realising that many of my friends are facing much more challenges. But then I am part of the upper middle class, who can sit in the coolness of an AC and write about heat wave and climate change – the Armchair (AC) blogger!

 

It is not only heat, the floods in Mizoram and Manipur and Kerala over the last week! 


As I thought about this, it dawned on me, that I represent the rest of humanity. My study is glass windowed and becomes quite unbearable in the daytime. Friends who came in all have advised me to put an AC in my Arm Chaired study! I have resisted thus far since I can move into the bedroom which is cooler and cosy too! 

But this is me representing rest of humanity.

The 'Homo Technologicus', who look for technological solutions for every problem that we face. 

Remember the floods in Kerala a few years ago. A land full of rivers, Dams crated for Hydro-electric projects, Rains come, Dams about to overflow, Dams opened, and state flooded! Yesterday it was Dams. Today it is Coal mines and Thermo-electric projects, deforestation for mining, “inclusive development projects”, atomic energy, solar etc. (See this blog to read more on inclusive development).  


I remember reading in a book ay Carl R Truman about the transitions of humanity.  



 

Being scientific and economic man, who need to find fulfilment in the here and now, find technological solutions to cool our bodies and emotional upheavals of life. Without considering the long-term implications of a technical solution that can give us instant gratification. Currently it is the electric vehicles!


We face a problem, find a technological solution, sort it out leads to second problem and then sort that out too, and this goes on and on! 


Little realising that the here and now, destroys the then and tomorrows! And makes the world not a good living place for our upcoming generations! 

Jonathan Haidt talks about similar changes the when the “great rewiring of 2010-2015”, happened. The growth of smart phones and social media, which has now led to a Mental health epidemic. The great rewiring created by technology giants as a response to changing cultural contexts! 


I know all the theory of climate change, and I enjoy talking bout it too! But when I live a daily life, I wonder how do I live? 




Yesterday I was picked up by the driver of a sister organization and as were driving to the office we started talking about election and politics, temperatures and life in general. 

 It was an enlightening conversation. He said, about the election politics “Sir, all this is drama (Hindi word “natanki”). The speeches, the meditation in the cave, the data put out, all is natanki! (I couldn’t agree more).

 

Then he said, I live in crowded area, and it is so hot that we do not how we are surviving. But I know it will all end soon. We are like in Noah’s days, it will all burn up soon. And the world will end. We have destroyed it, and it will destroy us! 

 

I realised he in his simple sentences was able to perceive and communicate much beyond me (a climate change educated one). One the politics of leadership who plays dramas. The reality of our role in destruction and how that will come back to destroy us. 

 

I considered myself a balanced person. I am neither like the politicians who play drama with words (or actions), or like my friend driver who was living with an apocalyptic perspective. Nor like Greta Thunberg and her friends who are labelled as fanatics. But the problem is balanced people are AC blog writers. (Armchair and Air conditioned). 

 

Whereas the idiotic man, who did not have technological solutions, was able to coexist with nature, recognising the need of that coexistence! With a simple faith and knowledge!


Covid made us idiots. A small virus was enough to drive us inside and the animals came out and started to coexist with us. Pollution dropped, climate stabilised for a season, but we have forgotten it again! 

 

May be if I got out of my Arm Chair and AC, it might be better…



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Three Learnings....

-
Image
This is the “report” of a recent faith-based health worker gathering—not the typical blog! I was compelled by what I witnessed over the last two days to write down three key observations and learnings.   The gathering brought together doctors, nurses, administrators, allied health professionals, data managers, priests, sisters, and laypeople, all engaged in listening to one another. While the structure of the system had its usual strong hierarchy, much like any healthcare system, what stood out to me was the absence of an "us vs. them" mentality. They were all there to learn from each other—nurses working alone in remote and challenging areas, administrators struggling with the sustainability of large institutions, and doctors stretched to their limits. It was a community of learning and growth!   When will I learn to live without an "us vs. them" mentality? In my mind, I often divide people into 'us' and 'them'—categories that seem justified by my o...
Read more

Humanity without boundaries, Love without Borders

-
Image
Visiting the “Genocide Museum” at Kigali was sobering. The pain the nation, communities, families, and individuals went through, and the millions murdered was beyond comprehension.   Seeing the museum, with all the pictures and videos of atrocities perpetuated by one community against their own brothers and sisters was disturbing and confusing. How can brothers and sisters kill their own?  But then this is true of many nations, including my own.  What encouraged us was – the national leaders had the vision to put the brokenness of their own nation, out there in the public as reminder for upcoming generations. Yes, the past is painful, but it must be openly communicated so that we can learn from our mistakes and not end up doing it again.  But then, many other nations too have created such memorials. Cambodia, Holocaust museums, Bosnia, and such others. Friends who have visited these locations told us, all these have something in common. These nations had the courage ...
Read more

Difference...

-
Image
What makes an organization different? I am not talking about successful or great organizations but different. Different means making a difference in the world and transforming lives.   I was sitting in the back of a conference hall listening to the leaders from 19 hospitals reporting on what has happened over the last year. A few observations from what I heard:   1. Leadership with a bigger picture: Leaders who understand why they are doing what they are doing. They have clarity that institutions and organisations are merely platforms to make a difference in the contexts where they are placed. Leaders who prioritise vision and values above  self, people above institution, and larger mandate above money. Their lives open to be transformed and through those changes others are challenged to change too.    2. Leadership in their prime age: One might ask, what is prime age? With our nation having more than 55% of its population under 35 years of age, the average age ...
Read more