Page 24 - NAMAH-Jul-2024

Namah Vol. 32, Issue 2, 15th July 2024

becomes humus that is rich food for various Compassion
plants and insects. After passing through
their guts the leaf is soil, rich in minerals that Nature has figured out that sharing and caring
are sucked up by the root-system as food is the only way to win. Winning means all
by the tree. Everything in nature is part of a win. Each in his appointed place plays his
cycle of life, including day and night and the role well and makes the whole prosper. The
seasons. Only man has a massive problem of cycles point to this. New shoots, new cubs
debris that don’t fit in any cycle. And why is and kids, happy bees and birds squeak and
there such a quantity of debris? Because of tweet as much. It is because nature knows
man’s excess and wastage. He does not think when to multiply. If resources are strained,
in terms of cycles, but in terms of silos. He the little ones will not survive. So lesser
thinks of personal profit, not the long-term babies are conceived. If man could follow
progress of the earth. He takes too much from this rhythm, there would not be a population
Nature’s limited resources, gives back too explosion and a resource crunch. Though
little of what she can reuse. He encourages imbalance would still remain, because this
consumerism but does not know how to is to do with a human behaviour — the lack
deal with the goods that have outlasted their of sharing and caring. We know this feeling
usefulness. He has gone global, but has not well. We feel uncared for when the sun is
found out how to share the excess globally. not around. When the blizzard and typhoon
In one part of the world people die of obesity, rage, the vulnerable human shivers and
in another of starvation. Nature believes in prays. Whereas the tiger and deer share the
‘Small is Beautiful’, ‘Simple is Beautiful’. watering holes, humans are using river water
Let us try these two models of existence. treatise as political leverages, threatening to
Source from what is available locally. stop a downstream flow and causing a crisis in
Solve local problems with local solutions. the neighbouring country. A lion kills the deer
Business cycles would become manageable, when it is hungry and not to prove to anyone
which will scale down other operations in it is the king of the jungle. Humans can learn
communitarian life. Employees will not some conflict resolution from animals.
be overworked having to compete with
millions of invisible others. Eventually, Resilience
it will translate to an equitable growth
spread equally in society. A man will not The human footprint is big and often not bio-
have to work in his autumnal years but can degradable. As though the noisy ego will not
write poetry. When the natural cycles are allow blending in. Anyone with too much of
understood in our lives and their rhythms it, will meet his downfall sooner or later —
respected, our lives fall into place. We have our proverbs warn us and our experiences
better health, which means no medicines, say as much. We can learn some humility
no side-effects of medicines, no medicine- by observing Nature who in her quiet way
induced ailments. We also learn to accept outdoes man’s achievements. Nature carves
death and decay. Also, that our bodies will stones using the soft touch of water. She is
become earth one day to push up a stalk of persistent and patient. Ants build anthills
wheat another day. many times the height of skyscrapers working

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