Does nature need a weekly human lockdown every year?

It’s a splendid sight with birds chirping more than vehicular horns, Ridley turtles coming to mate on Odisha coastlines, dolphins visiting Italian shores sans inhibition thinking it is fun there, Delhi API recordings enviably low for its European counterparts and Yamuna nearing the standards of a revered river. These examples are only a few from nature’s book of balance. It is also a revealing sight from the past on how humans can milk the resources yet stay in harmony with nature; and a reminder that nature’s resources are meant to be consumed by every species on the planet.

Societal imbalance arises from limited resources feeding unlimited mouths. Excess of this rots the society beyond measure, thus creating problems of unemployment, law and order, unequal distribution of wealth, feudalism and human rights violations. In a similar way, nature’s imbalance over the years has led to deterioration of the flora and fauna of mother earth. It’s worthwhile to note that a mother can breastfeed her child effectively only if her diet is sufficient and nutritious.

There are some questions that stare us in the eye for answers. Has our mother gotten a nutritious diet for last many centuries? Did our forefathers also let go of this aspect in the wake of industrialization and economic growth? Is blind economic growth our only aim now? Can there be policies bold enough to restrict human consumption, rather than snatch the share from other species of this planet? These are not easy questions to answer but need to be questioned if we want to stir the soul of today’s mankind. There are naysayers who would dismiss these questions in the Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest. May be for them, it is alright for human race to get extinct like dinosaurs because its proven that might is not right when it comes to nature. For nature, some of its longest surviving species are those who made friends with it, who tendered it with love and harmony.

One small step of friendship towards nature will be a weekly human lock-down every year.

Friends of nature or foe?

The choice is ours to make!