Talk 19: The forgotten nature lovers*
*Inspired by: The Invention of Nature – The Adventures of Alexander von Humboldt, the Lost Hero of Science, by Andrea Wulf. Lowering Earth’s fever Grete has decided to become an Earth-Doctor. She remembers the long list of Earth’s sickness syndromes. She realized that the disease is multifaceted and awfully complex. Without genuine help from many…
Talk 18: Eco-exterminator and eco-lover
(Translation of a contribution in Punjabi by Manjinder Sembhi, Tajpur, a small village in Punjab, India) Ungrateful overlords When the world came into being, we humans confronted animals, birds, rivers, and natural calamities. As human society and its behaviour evolved, we took control of the freely roaming animals and began using them to cultivate land…
Talk 17: Defective I-ness gene rectified
(Translation of a contribution in Punjabi by Manjinder Sembhi of Tajpur, a small village in Punjab, India.) River of desires From the beginning of existence, we humans have been occupied with alleviating our own pain and suffering. We have failed to acquire joy and pleasure. Why does the situation remain unchanged? Because a river of…
Talk 16: Stealing natural capital
(Image caption: Every imaginable means – rail, track, road, tunnels, and helicopters – pierce Jungfrau to satisfy human eye) Earth’s impending demise The annual jamboree of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, has just ended. Participants proposed many haughty ways to treat and save the sick Earth. Now they are standing around sick Earth’s bed.…
Talk 15: Technology rapes nature
Devious human BHG Human beings are smart and devious. They set up multinational enterprises of various types to penetrate nature, analyse it, exploit its abundance, and convert it into their own capital. If they encounter any difficulty, they delocalize to another place. They adapt to any type of governing system. They use cheap slave-like labour…
Talk 14: I-ness camouflaged!
Art of camouflage Even a chameleon cannot outdo human BHG in the art of camouflage. Having learnt everything from nature, we have become superbly shrewd and arrogant. Our I-ness has fortified in goodness and badness. We have become divine creators, inventors, destroyers, and spoilers. Yet we are unable to resist fighting each other to enhance…
Talk 13: Becoming human again
Human robots Grete has just returned from Brussels utterly disillusioned. She saw the European Union parliament adopt a new law intended to protect the environment and hopefully reduce Earth’s fever. Actually the law increased funding for agriculture only. Hoping to calm her nerves, she listened to a conference given by a French philosopher, elegantly dressed…
Talk 12: What happened to our inner demons?
(Image: Inner demons: worshiping industrial produce) Who is killing Earth? “BHG are bent upon killing me”. Earth’s these disturbing words kept Grete awake all night. “Why?” Grete sobbed. Then she remembered Earth saying, “We will talk about it later.” At the same time, she recalled what Alexander Humboldt had said more than two hundred years ago,…
Talk 11: Humans cure Earth
No medicine Earth, half awake, wondered what had happened to Grete. Just then the door opens. Earth raises her heavy head a little and saw Grete walk in. Who else? Grete has swollen eyes and puffed red face. She must have been crying. Earth knows that Grete is also a BHG, but the good type,…
Talk 10: Ogre swallows Earth
Living with nature We all know and love watching birds, mice, insects, and numerous other species, instinctively building their houses in the same ecological manner, form and size. Some even brilliantly installed natural air conditioning to protect themselves from extreme heat and cold. We cannot emulate the superb architecture that ants, bees, and beavers have…
