Two days ago when I chanced to look outside my window, because the omnipresent pigeon was flapping more than usual, I saw something wrapped around a tiny talon. Closer inspection revealed it to be a surgical mask. Now, no matter if I pinched the bridge of my nose, it still wouldn’t quell the impending headache the site caused. Not to mention, said pigeon flew from the sill before I could contemplate how to cut off the strings.
But isn’t this a common occurrence nowadays? The other day I got curious about the many cleanup drives being organized- more than usual that too. So I decided to see how pollution and waste were faring because I read all these Instagram posts about earth healing and nature taking back blah blah. Now imagine my shock when I chance upon what has to be tons and tons of all sorts of waste- apparently, no one noticed how much MORE waste people are producing during this pandemic. And one of the most concerning aspects was the use and disposal of masks. Not only is the general populace uneducated in how to use the mask it is also inept in its disposal which has resulted in what is probably the biggest number in tons of medical waste being disposed of. And this waste is finding it’s way into landfills and water bodies and on life forms that are clueless and suffering or dying from it- even more than usual. It makes me think not only do we not have a civic sense of duty, but we also don’t treat where we live, in essence, this earth – the green, blue speckled planet with the gratitude and kindness it deserves endangering everyone’s lives. And the part that most gets to me is how it doesn’t get to the majority. What kind of blindness is this?
I see it everywhere. Plastics or single-use plastics were apparently banned but the other day while I was out watering a few potted plants, I saw a string of washed single-use plastic covers hanging to dry on a line in a neighbourhood balcony. The water tipped from the edge of the pot as I felt more discombobulated than usual. Really? Because wasn’t it much easier and nicer to just take a cloth bag to the market? Washing plastic. What are these new heights we are reaching? It was akin to the other time I realized a new supermarket in the city has been giving disposable plastic gloves to every person who came in to shop. I can’t even fathom the amount of waste that produces. Not to mention the question of whether those freaking gloves were being recycled or segregated. The randomly discarded pairs everywhere told me how much thought people put into it (the lack of). People instead rejoiced in how safe this was. Cue deep sigh and irritation.
Most Indians I know are content about what is pretty in their immediate vicinity, keeping their vicinity clean and pretty and what suits their needs immediately. Never mind if that place is away from where they live(Because why?). In that case, it gives them all right to use all property and places like a waste yard. People in my apartment have been suffering from dengue and malaria the past few days and some are wondering why. Why? Oh nothing, it’s because there is dug out earth near the peripheries of the property where some nice people wanted to plant flowers and trees but guess what we have? The rest of the colony treating the space as a junkyard. People go as far getting up at 5 in the morning to tuck a cloth around their face – because no one needs to recognize them and if they’re particularly shyer, they’d send a maid or watchman -all with the express purpose of disposing waste near the space. Now I, like you reading this, wondered too – why wasn’t anyone calling them out? Sure few people protested and the watchman would try to chase away people when he can but really why wasn’t this being taken more seriously? My mom gave me a look from under her lashes. I didn’t understand. Then one day while out in the balcony, I see a hail of rice being showered from some balcony upstairs into the space below. Now then. It made sense why people were hesitant or the situation wasn’t changing.
I wanted to run away somewhere. To the many places, I’ve never been. But alas! Again the other day I saw a post – the Maldives is slowly sinking in the rising water levels, coral reefs dying, Amazon depleting in the next few years, oil spills and extinctions(of animals like koalas, leopards, macaws and in all seriousness and literally thousands more) one after the other. It suffocated me. Doesn’t it suffocate you? This plastic culture. The way this waste management and plastic and everything non-sustainable has infiltrated our life to the point we don’t care how we live tomorrow. As long as we’re comfortable today. As long as we live in this bubble of unawareness- not wanting to know. But here’s a simple question you can ask yourself to begin thinking because honestly any action only results from deep analysis and thought, the self-realization that will ingrain probably the need to do better -if you tell a toddler the story of the lion and the mouse or the turtle and the hare in a forest. How likely is he/she to visualize a cluster of trees or a hare or a turtle or a lion- especially one that isn’t in a zoo? How likely are we to remember? Because it gets hazy for me too. And that scares me. It should scare you too.
By Dr. Manaswini Subnivis
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