Earth Day – Tough love by Mother Earth.

We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors. We borrow it from our future generations.

Today is Earth Day! And it has been precisely a month since we’ve been grounded by her.

While we are still, nature is working to heal itself.

The sky is a clear deep blue once again in Delhi. Air quality across the board (especially in cities) is much better than it has been in the last many years.

We can hear birds chirping, instead of traffic sounds.

Rivers have cleaned themselves.

In few places (close to forests) wild animals have been seen to roam fearlessly on streets.

In Mumbai, some monkeys were enjoying a dip in the community swimming pools, as people watched through the window grills – an ironical sight.

We have obviously overstepped our space, plundered nature, abused animals without thinking much of the consequences. The slow down is a great opportunity given to us to grasp the interconnections we’ve either been missing or ignoring in our hectic fast paced lives, and take corrective action. Mother Earth is showing us the way.

So what is the action ?

Health – taking it in your own hands. Because that is where it belongs any way. The virus has shown us we cannot completely rely on an outside system to save us. The only thing that can – is our immunity. Data shows that those losing their fight to Covid -19 are those with other lifestyle issues or compromised immunity. This is the time for us to correct our diet and lifestyle habits to fortify ourselves from within.

Food – Taking this in our own hands. The more our food has travelled or the more it is packaged/processed, the more chance of contamination! Hence what are our options ?

Eating as local as possible. Eat more unpackaged/unprocessed food. Try and source directly from a farmer. In fact just like you have a family doctor, why not have a family farmer? Because all of this ensures less hands touching the food and less chance of contamination.

3. Animals – Close proximity to animals is a known cause for over 60% of all zoonotic diseases. Animal agriculture farms and wet markets (where the stress levels of animals are high) are a breeding ground for aggressive viruses like corona. We can choose to not consume animal products or use animals so that we know we are not contributors to creating another virus. For an indepth understanding of this do watch Dr. Gregor’s video here.

Consumption – The lockdown would have made us realize – how little we really need to live, as opposed to how much we have. Every time we buy something, we’re chipping into nature’s resources – land, water, fuel, and are these are perhaps being taken away from an animal/wildlife species.

Travel and socializing – How sad that the prerogative of hugging a friend or strolling down the road has been taken away from us, forget travelling another city or country. Well, as a wise man said, if we can’t go out, let’s go in. This time has been given to us to go deep within our vast inner universe, be more in touch with ourselves and reflect on how we will choose to live, from here on.

So, one month down, these are some of my random thoughts.. What are yours?