An 'hour of darkness' for Mother Nature

I can so proudly say we observed it: Earth Hour, an hour without the use of any unnecessary electrical appliances or lights. No lights, no AC, no fans, no computers, no laptops, no telephones, no cell phones and no iPods. As I write the list of what we willingly turned off for an hour, I realize how dependent we have become in current times on electricity and electric appliances.Not only that, the strange part is that we have stopped even noticing it.
In such times, the Earth Hour initiative by the World Wide Fund for nature is so very relevant and important. It serves as an eye opener for those of us living in the mechanical routine of our lives. We live our daily lives without realizing how we are impacting the environment. The Earth Hour is an appeal to people the world over to turn off their non-essential lights for one hour, from 8:30 to 9:30pm on the last Saturday in March, as a symbol for their commitment to the planet.
And this symbolic turning off of our lights and 'non-essential' electric appliances for an hour makes us realize how many of our little day to day actions can impact the planet. The conservation of energy by just the observance of Earth Hour by even a small number of people the world over is tremendous. Along with its physical impact, it reminds us that looking after the well-being of the environment is our responsibility too.
As everyone in the house sat around the table with a single candle burning at the centre and told stories, it felt like we had travelled back in time. I do not mean this in a sense of deprivation, a lack of modern amenities. I mean back in a time where people were closer to nature, when the noise of the radio and TV did not drown out the chirping of the birds outside our windows.
Nature, to be admired and conserved, is all around us. Having to travel miles by road before we can take a walk down a nature trail is not the ideal situation. It is probably not possible to bring back all that we have lost in this environment. But we certainly can do our bit to stop its further deterioration.
Do your bit. Participate in such green initiatives like Earth Hour. Reduce; reuse; recycle. It may not seem like a lot. But at such times, remember a famous quote by Mother Teresa which goes something like this, "We know only too well that what we are doing is nothing more than a drop in the ocean. But if the drop were not there, the ocean would be missing something."