| Author | Message | ||
Gandhiguevara Legend Username: Gandhiguevara Post Number: 66322 Registered: 10-2009 Posted From: 175.101.105.37 Rating: N/A |
Platy sir memu meeku focus group aaa | ||
Platypus Side Hero Username: Platypus Post Number: 7541 Registered: 01-2008 Posted From: 167.220.196.122 Rating: |
I like Saturdays a lot. They have a Sunday in their immediate future and so the "Oh, Tomorrow I have to go to work" feeling does not arise. The worst day in the week has got to be Sundays of course. "Oh, It is already Sunday!" On Saturdays I get up leisurely at 11 in the morning; sip my favorite decoction coffee and read every line of text in the day's edition of The Hindu. No wonder Ashish calls me a Madrasi! That Saturday too, I was enjoying my coffee but a commotion near the Apartment Complex compound wall in front of D block attracted my attention. A group of residents were animatedly discussing something. Well, our apartment complex might be an up-market venture but still most of us living there were by birth and by spirit Indians and so sported the "herd mentality" gene. There sure was a herd down there. So all the buffaloes including myself dragged their feet to the place of the action. In a very short span of time, there were about 100 residents there all with a frown on their face. 90% of them had no clue what it was all about. Since I belonged to that 90% and Ashish seemed to be on the other side of the fence, I whispered into his ears, "What is the big idea?" "We are going to dogs" "Err?" "I mean we are destroying our planet. Look at those bulldozers and earth movers. They are cutting down a lot of trees." True indeed... the once thick green foliage and vegetation that met our eyes on the South side of the complex had been completely wiped off the face of the Earth. "Why?" I asked Ashish. "Looks like a shopping center is coming up there. This is hell! India is the worst country in the world. We should respect our trees!" Just then Varadarajan Srinivasan Manikandan Ramasamy climbed atop an Innova and shouted. "Ladies and Gentleman. This has got to stop. We should protect Mother Nature. Let us all unite and oppose this destruction of our planet." Some skeptic guy shouted back. "Exactly how are we supposed to oppose it?" Varadarajan Srinivasan (Let us stop at that) had the answer ready. "Peaceful protest. Rasta Roko. Relay Hunger Strikes. We will not bend the law. But we will register our protest." We were all charged up. A mere glance at the barren land where peacocks graced the foliage once, was heartbreaking. Tears started to well up in our eyes. "I say we should bend the law. We are hundreds of people. We should beat those guys black and blue. Nature should be respected and protected" I shouted suddenly. Ahalya stared at me incredulously. I shouted again, "Mother Nature Zindabad" "Zindabad Zindabad" everybody joined. "Stop destroying the planet. Workmen Go Back!" "Go back. Go back" We then started walking towards the apartment gate to protect the vanishing green. "Srini, got a minute?" Ahalya pulled me aside. "What? Can't you see I am about to save the world?" "Meet Rambabu, our Block security guard" Ahalya introduced me to a lean fellow of about twenty. "Can it wait?" I couldn't believe she stopped me for a chitchat with a guard. The rest of the crowd was patiently waiting for their newfound leader. "Rambabu is a local guy. He grew up here playing in those fields that are now disappearing." "Excellent. So you should also join us Rambabu." I grabbed his hand. "No thanks Sir. I don't care." He said. I was surprised. "Why is that? Can't you see your trees are all getting cut?" He smiled, "Ten years ago, saab, I used to play in a mini forest that housed quite a few varieties of trees. A Banyan tree however used to be my favorite. I would play for hours in the forest, on the trees, hiding behind bushes, sometimes getting into really close encounters with the not-so-friendly animal life. That banyan tree was a meeting place for all the children in the neighborhood." I looked the bored crowd. A tenth of them had lost the interest already and left the group. "Look," I said, "We will continue this conversation some other time, OK? It is great that the banyan tree was available for you to climb. We are out to save some of those trees now. Why don't you join us?" He shook his head. "What is the point Saab! That Banyan tree was cut down 10 years ago along with the rest of the forest." I could see that the crowd had considerably thinned by then. "Look at that block there Saab" he pointed to our block. "What about it?" I asked him. "That was where the banyan tree had stood majestically for decades." I stared at Ahalya. "And Aranya Vihar saab... was the principle reason for the destruction of that entire forest." Ahalya had a blank expression on her face. But I knew what she was telling me silently. "Now, there will be another Aranya Vihar there saab. Why protest that?" I stood there rooted to ground. Ashish yelled from the group. They were just 10 now. "Come on Srini. Let us teach a lesson to those ignorant fellows" I looked at the security guard. "Care to repeat everything you've said so far again? This time to everyone there?" He smiled. Ahalya started walking back to the apartment. "When you are done educating the literates, let us go shopping." The End |
