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The article, “The Ailing Planet: The Green Movement's Role”, was written by Nani Palkhivala and published in The Indian Express on 24 November 1994. The issues that he raised regarding the declining health of the earth continue to have relevance.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nani Palkhivala was born in 1920 in Bombay in middle-class Parsi parents. His family name derives from the profession of his forefathers (a common practice among Parsis), who had been manufacturers of palanquins ("palkhis"). He was educated at Masters Tutorial High School, and later at St. Xaviers College, both in Bombay. He was a dedicated scholar and, not letting a stammer hold him back, he excelled. At college, he earned a master's degree in English language and literature and, overcame his speech impairment. Upon graduating, Palkhivala applied for a position as lecture at Bombay University, but was not awarded the post. Soon found himself trying to obtain admission to institutions of higher learning to further his academic career. It being late in the term, most courses were closed, and he enrolled at Government Law college where he discovered that he had a gift for unravelling the intricacies of jurisprudence. He was an excellent lawyer in his time.
1. ‘No generation has a freehold on this earth. All we have is a life tenancy with a full repairing lease’ Justify this statement.
Everyone says, “it is my land” and “that is your land.” People fight for other territories and encroach their neighbour’s land. It is here what British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher’s observation gains importance. We are not supposed to occupy the earth considering that the planet belongs to us and that we can exploit the planet any way we like. We, on the contrary, have to extract the resources so carefully that the generation that comes after us will have a better land and sea, a less dense forest, cleaner water and clearer sky.
2. How has ‘the most dangerous animal of the world’ caused the destruction of the earth’s principal biological systems?
Human beings are considered to be the most dangerous animal of the world. The Earth’s principal biological systems are being depleted by excessive use. According to Lester R Brown, there are four principal biological systems of the globed economic system. They are fisheries, forests, grasslands and croplands. They are the foundation of the global economic system. They supply us food and provide raw materials for industry, except minerals.
But man’s demands on these systems are reaching an unsustainable level. Over-fishing is common because of a protein hungry world. The tropical forests face extinction due to the demand of firewood for cooking. Grasslands are being converted into wastelands and deserts due to over-grazing. Pressure of population on croplands has affected their productivity.
3. How is population explosion perpetuating poverty?
The growth of world population is one of the strongest factors ‘distorting’ the future of human society. Nani Palkhivala avers that the population explosion will pose a great threat to the future of human society.
Overpopulation upsets all plans of development and puts a severe strain on the Earth’s principal biological systems. The richer gets richer and the poor beget children which condemns them to remain poor. More children does not mean more workers, merely more people without work. This leads to poverty and unemployment, due to which development is hampered.
4. Why did the zoo authorities put a mirror inside a cage in the zoo at Lusaka?
In-a zoo at Lusaka, Zambia, there is a cage where the notice reads, 'the world's most dangerous animal'. Inside the cage, there is no animal but a mirror where one sees one's own reflection. This notice signifies that our planet faces the most potential threat from mankind rather from any other animal.
5. Discuss the ‘holistic and ecological view of the world’.
This world can’t be studied in isolation. The mechanical view of the world gives a distorted picture. We need to develop a holistic view of the world. It is a comprehensive view of the world with all its natural resources and species. Human beings are just a part of it. Like a human body this earth is a living organism. It has its own metabolism. We should not destroy this natural growth and functioning of the world.
6. What do you understand by sustainable development?
Sustainable development refers to development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs, it means without stripping the natural world of resources future generations would need.
7. What is the Green Movement? Name some movements in India which fall under this category.
Amongst the better known people's movements that attempted to conserve natural resources are—Chipko andolan (1973) to protect forests in Tehri Garhwal, Save Silent Valley movement (1978) to cancel a dam construction proposal in the Nilgiris biosphere, Jungle andolan (1982) by adivasis in Singbhum district for land, forest and water was the struggle for right over and part of the socio-economic aspects of Jharkhand.
8. ‘Forests precede mankind, deserts follow’. Explain this statement.
'Forests precede mankind; deserts follow'. Forests were in existence much before the coming of man on this planet. It is also true that if forests disappear, deserts will follow. Man is involved in felling of trees and clearing of forests and converting forest into land for cultivation. Finally our grasslands and croplands are converted into wastelands and deserts.
This can be well explained by citing an example from Mahabaratha the burning of the Khandava vana by the Pandavas to create agricultural land for their kingdom of Indraprastha is an ancient example, the cutting down of forests in Brazil, Indonesia and Malaysia to grow soybean and palm oil is a current example. So humans go where forests are.
In arid and semiarid regions, pastoralism is the first step away from a hunting/ gathering life. The animals domesticated in these areas are heavy grazers like sheep, goats and donkeys, which move from area to area. As flocks multiply, the vegetation cover gets stripped and soil erosion slowly extends the desert. So desertification follows human activity.
9. What is the role of the industries in protecting environment?
Industries have to exercise restraint about using natural resources. The top officers need to become guardians of the environment — control effluents, place filters on smoke emissions and take necessary steps to reduce pollution and conserve natural resources.
10. What did Margaret Thatcher say about man’s lifespan on earth?
We have to take care of our planet so that our children too may enjoy its bounty. We should not deplete and ruin the planet.
"Thatcher … did more than anyone in the last 60 years to put green issues on the national agenda. From 1987-88 when [she] started to talk about the ozone layer and acid rain and climate change, a lot of people who had said these issues were for the tree-hugging weirdos thought, 'ooh, it's Mrs Thatcher saying that, it must be serious'. She played a big part in the rise of green ideas by making it more accessible to large numbers of people". Margaret Thatcher will be remembered for her short lived "green period" in the late 1980s when she helped put climate change (or global warming as it was then known), acid rain and pollution on to the mainstream political map. Tutored by Sir Crispin Tickell, British ambassador to the UN in New York, she made several dramatic environment speeches.
Margaret Thatcher, (born October 13, 1925 England—died April 8, 2013, London), British conservative party politician and prime minister (1979–90), Europe’s first woman prime minister. The only British prime minister in the 20th century to win three consecutive terms and, at the time of her resignation Britain’s longest continuously serving prime minister since 1827, she accelerated the evolution of the British economy from statism to liberalism and became, by personality as much as achievement, the most renowned British political leader since Winston Churchill.
11. “We have not inherited this earth from our forefathers; we have borrowed it from our children”- Explain this statement by Mr. Lester Brown.
This quote is of Lester Brown. By this quote he means we are the responsible trustees of the world and have to hand it over to the coming generations in a very good condition – not as degraded and polluted planet.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nani Palkhivala was born in 1920 in Bombay in middle-class Parsi parents. His family name derives from the profession of his forefathers (a common practice among Parsis), who had been manufacturers of palanquins ("palkhis"). He was educated at Masters Tutorial High School, and later at St. Xaviers College, both in Bombay. He was a dedicated scholar and, not letting a stammer hold him back, he excelled. At college, he earned a master's degree in English language and literature and, overcame his speech impairment. Upon graduating, Palkhivala applied for a position as lecture at Bombay University, but was not awarded the post. Soon found himself trying to obtain admission to institutions of higher learning to further his academic career. It being late in the term, most courses were closed, and he enrolled at Government Law college where he discovered that he had a gift for unravelling the intricacies of jurisprudence. He was an excellent lawyer in his time.
- A holistic and ecological view – a complete view and the whole keeping in mind the inter relationship among themselves and to the environment.
- Sustainable development – development that continues for a long time.
- Languish - forced to stay somewhere.
- Ignominious darkness - humiliating darkness.
- Inter alia- Latin word meaning among other things.
- Decimated – destroyed.
- Catastrophic depletion- disastrous.
- transcending concern – surpassing concern. (surpass is to excel)
- coercion- the process of persuading someone forcefully to do something that they don’t want to do.
- condemns – forces
Everyone says, “it is my land” and “that is your land.” People fight for other territories and encroach their neighbour’s land. It is here what British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher’s observation gains importance. We are not supposed to occupy the earth considering that the planet belongs to us and that we can exploit the planet any way we like. We, on the contrary, have to extract the resources so carefully that the generation that comes after us will have a better land and sea, a less dense forest, cleaner water and clearer sky.
2. How has ‘the most dangerous animal of the world’ caused the destruction of the earth’s principal biological systems?
Human beings are considered to be the most dangerous animal of the world. The Earth’s principal biological systems are being depleted by excessive use. According to Lester R Brown, there are four principal biological systems of the globed economic system. They are fisheries, forests, grasslands and croplands. They are the foundation of the global economic system. They supply us food and provide raw materials for industry, except minerals.
But man’s demands on these systems are reaching an unsustainable level. Over-fishing is common because of a protein hungry world. The tropical forests face extinction due to the demand of firewood for cooking. Grasslands are being converted into wastelands and deserts due to over-grazing. Pressure of population on croplands has affected their productivity.
3. How is population explosion perpetuating poverty?
The growth of world population is one of the strongest factors ‘distorting’ the future of human society. Nani Palkhivala avers that the population explosion will pose a great threat to the future of human society.
Overpopulation upsets all plans of development and puts a severe strain on the Earth’s principal biological systems. The richer gets richer and the poor beget children which condemns them to remain poor. More children does not mean more workers, merely more people without work. This leads to poverty and unemployment, due to which development is hampered.
4. Why did the zoo authorities put a mirror inside a cage in the zoo at Lusaka?
In-a zoo at Lusaka, Zambia, there is a cage where the notice reads, 'the world's most dangerous animal'. Inside the cage, there is no animal but a mirror where one sees one's own reflection. This notice signifies that our planet faces the most potential threat from mankind rather from any other animal.
5. Discuss the ‘holistic and ecological view of the world’.
This world can’t be studied in isolation. The mechanical view of the world gives a distorted picture. We need to develop a holistic view of the world. It is a comprehensive view of the world with all its natural resources and species. Human beings are just a part of it. Like a human body this earth is a living organism. It has its own metabolism. We should not destroy this natural growth and functioning of the world.
6. What do you understand by sustainable development?
Sustainable development refers to development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs, it means without stripping the natural world of resources future generations would need.
7. What is the Green Movement? Name some movements in India which fall under this category.
Amongst the better known people's movements that attempted to conserve natural resources are—Chipko andolan (1973) to protect forests in Tehri Garhwal, Save Silent Valley movement (1978) to cancel a dam construction proposal in the Nilgiris biosphere, Jungle andolan (1982) by adivasis in Singbhum district for land, forest and water was the struggle for right over and part of the socio-economic aspects of Jharkhand.
8. ‘Forests precede mankind, deserts follow’. Explain this statement.
'Forests precede mankind; deserts follow'. Forests were in existence much before the coming of man on this planet. It is also true that if forests disappear, deserts will follow. Man is involved in felling of trees and clearing of forests and converting forest into land for cultivation. Finally our grasslands and croplands are converted into wastelands and deserts.
This can be well explained by citing an example from Mahabaratha the burning of the Khandava vana by the Pandavas to create agricultural land for their kingdom of Indraprastha is an ancient example, the cutting down of forests in Brazil, Indonesia and Malaysia to grow soybean and palm oil is a current example. So humans go where forests are.
In arid and semiarid regions, pastoralism is the first step away from a hunting/ gathering life. The animals domesticated in these areas are heavy grazers like sheep, goats and donkeys, which move from area to area. As flocks multiply, the vegetation cover gets stripped and soil erosion slowly extends the desert. So desertification follows human activity.
9. What is the role of the industries in protecting environment?
Industries have to exercise restraint about using natural resources. The top officers need to become guardians of the environment — control effluents, place filters on smoke emissions and take necessary steps to reduce pollution and conserve natural resources.
10. What did Margaret Thatcher say about man’s lifespan on earth?
We have to take care of our planet so that our children too may enjoy its bounty. We should not deplete and ruin the planet.
"Thatcher … did more than anyone in the last 60 years to put green issues on the national agenda. From 1987-88 when [she] started to talk about the ozone layer and acid rain and climate change, a lot of people who had said these issues were for the tree-hugging weirdos thought, 'ooh, it's Mrs Thatcher saying that, it must be serious'. She played a big part in the rise of green ideas by making it more accessible to large numbers of people". Margaret Thatcher will be remembered for her short lived "green period" in the late 1980s when she helped put climate change (or global warming as it was then known), acid rain and pollution on to the mainstream political map. Tutored by Sir Crispin Tickell, British ambassador to the UN in New York, she made several dramatic environment speeches.
Margaret Thatcher, (born October 13, 1925 England—died April 8, 2013, London), British conservative party politician and prime minister (1979–90), Europe’s first woman prime minister. The only British prime minister in the 20th century to win three consecutive terms and, at the time of her resignation Britain’s longest continuously serving prime minister since 1827, she accelerated the evolution of the British economy from statism to liberalism and became, by personality as much as achievement, the most renowned British political leader since Winston Churchill.
11. “We have not inherited this earth from our forefathers; we have borrowed it from our children”- Explain this statement by Mr. Lester Brown.
This quote is of Lester Brown. By this quote he means we are the responsible trustees of the world and have to hand it over to the coming generations in a very good condition – not as degraded and polluted planet.
Lester Russel Brown born 1934 is a United States environmental analyst, founder of the World watch Institute, and founder and former president of the Earth Policy Institute, a non-profit research organization based in Washington, D.C. BBC Radio commentator Peter Day referred to him as "one of the great pioneer environmentalists."
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