Dangerous times for earth and humanity

Are we, the mankind, as also our planet earth that we inhabit, heading towards sure extinction? This question becomes relevant and worth a serious thought. Because these are not just vague fears being stoked by  the sick, sadistic, idle prophets of doom. Many cosmologists and climatologists have been sounding such warnings to the heedless world off and on. But of late, an eminent British physicist and Cambridge professor Stephan Hawking has said so in no uncertain terms. In his article he wrote in The Guardian he said: “We face awesome environmental challenges: climate change, food production, overpopulation, the decimation of other species, epidemic diseases, acidification of the oceans. Together, they are a reminder that we are at the most dangerous moment in the development of humanity.” These poignant comments coming from one of the most distinguished luminaries of the present times should make us all sit up and take notice; our worthy politicians even more so than anybody else. For, it is these latter who hold the reins of power and formulate policies impinging upon the lives of people the world over. On the whole, people are disenchanted with the quality of governance all over the globe. The politician, in general, has proved to be too myopic and fallen far short of people’s hopes and aspirations. He/she has failed to deliver on the core issues that confront mankind: issues that Hawking speaks about. This disillusionment with the political dispensation partly explains the frustration among the Britons leading to their vote in favour of ‘Brexit’, and the triumph of a rabid nationalist like Donald Trump as the US President.  With men like Trump occupying seats of power and presiding over the destinies of the people, who has threatened to reject the Paris pact on climate change, is our earth heading towards extinction earlier than thought?  We have to keep our fingers crossed. We can however draw some solace from a note of optimism struck by Stephan Hawking: “The challenges can be overcome if the elites unite and learn from the past.”

But will they?... Well, your guess is as good as mine!

To round off my little outpouring above, I have for you a video clip sent again by none else but my environment-conscious, nature-loving friend Dr G L Bansal to whom I again owe thanks. The video, a BBC trailer of a documentary will cast a spell on you when you watch the glorious diversity of life that inhabits our beautiful earth. Watch it and ask yourself: “Will this magic of life, this magnificent diversity, this wonder of evolution that happened on this globe, all be lost? Lost because man, none else but man, in his self-conceit didn’t heed the warnings from mother earth; did not prevent the demon of climate change from bringing ruination before it was too late?”

Happy viewing anyway!

                                                       

And what about Palampur’s steady decline?

When we speak about Stephan Hawking’s forebodings about earth and its survival, let’s  sneak a peek at our own small town Palampur. It was a charming valley dotted with deodars and pines.  Tea gardens were, have been and are its defining feature…its crowning glory. Khuds and streams were cleaner and clearer teeming with fish and  smaller forms of life. A walk from the Palampur bazaar's north end towards Bundla beside the town's ground, the church and the tree-canopied Mission complex was an enchanting, refreshing, ethereal experience. It still is to some extent.  But in about 3 decades or so, in our blind, irrational, mad rush for modernisation, those delights of nature that soothed your mind and soul have been vanishing by and by. Deodars have been cut. Some have dried up. Khuds have become dumping grounds for refuge and are choked with plastic. Worse, their banks have been ‘illegally’ encroached upon by manipulation, misuse of power and corrupt practices to raise buildings and concrete structures of all sizes and shapes. Even, I am sorry to say, the tea gardens - a special (heritage) feature that lends extra charm to Palampur and  makes it world famous - have been shrinking steadily for a variety of reasons. These gardens I must say are an integral part of Palampur's landscape and must need be preserved and protected from further onslaughts for whatever reasons.

Well, we are glad that Dharamshala, our neighbourly town is headed towards becoming a ‘smart city’. There were of course grudging noises among some Palampurwallas about Palampur being left out. Perhaps justifiably so. But can we, the Palampurwallas,  its enlightened citizenry, so much as save Palampur? And, above all, can its political stalwarts, rise to the occasion and lead the way and  take us all along in arresting the decline and erosion of Palampur’s pristine charm? Let Palampur not be  a ‘smart city’, let it at just be a 'beautiful city' with some of its old beauty and loveliness restored and preserved. Every one of us - and the posterity even more than us - will stand eternally grateful to them if they did. Lastly, let us all too contribute our bit any way we can to keep it clean and green and hesitate not to speak up, even shout, when we perceive any threat to its ecology and environment.

Dhauladhar view (sunrise and sunset)

                              

                                        Be it the sunset or the sunshsine

                                       'Tis always a sight pleasing to the eyes

                                       Thus days come and go; and thus all seasons

                                       Life touched by love is beautiful, past all reasons

Sun rise 

 Sunset

Let's smile and bloom like this Pansy!

Good news

Palampur Assembly  becomes first E-assembly constituency of the country

Quotes of the week

“Who needs wealth when you can make a woman laugh.”

                         -A tongue-in-cheek remark by a character in the popular serial

                             'Game of thrones', season 4.

"I am Mr Passionate, not Mr Perfectionist."

                          -Bollywood actor Aamir Khan

"Political logjam insult to democracy."

                          -An editorial heading, Deccan Herald

"What I charge for my films is no one's business."

                          -Bollywood Himachali actress Kangana Ranaut

"Triple talaq is cruel, must be banned."

                          -An editorial heading, Deccan Herald

"There is nothing beautiful than husband who encourages his wife to follow her dreams." 
                          -(A Facebook post)

"गाँधीवादी हूँ पर जरुरत पर मुक्का भी मारूँगा।"

                          -Virbhadra Singh, CM, HP

"Palampur expanding fast, deserves special attention."
                                   -Shanta Kumar, MP(The Tribune)




News clips

Stone age humans enjoyed diverse plant-based menu (Deccan Herald)

Cycad plants, living fossils that survived for nearly 300 million years, are now facing an extinction threat in India.

Monkeys have anatomy for human speech, lack brain wiring.

China becomes country of bachelors and spinsters

Over  hundred people challenge Einstein in global experiment

Rapid rise in methane emissions in 10 years surprises scientists

A Saudi woman tweeted a photo of herself without a hijab. Police have arrested her

डॉगी ने चाटा; कोमा में गया , किडनी भी फेल (Divya Himachal)

Miffed with 'ordinary sarees', bride walks off marriage

People in Varanasi, Allahabad and Gwalior did not have a single "good air" day throughout 2015:Central Pollution Control Board

India ranks 4th most vacation deprived country globally:report

In India washing machines top computers in popularity

India is likely to see a 65% rise in mobile transaction frauds next year:study (DH)

India to see highest pay hike in '17 in Asia-Pacific

Plan to float shikaras on Pong dam hits road block (Chandigarh Tribune)

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Running is actually good for knee joints:study

Food packed in newspapers slowly poisoning Indians: FSSAI

आशावादी महिलाओँ की उम्र  होती है लम्बी: सकारात्मक सोच से लकवा, कैंसर, श्वास रोग, और संक्रमण का खतरा हो जाता है कम (New York Times News Service Boston; Amar Ujala)

Lonely breast cancer patients less likely to beat disease

Happiness depends on mental health, not money:study

हज़ारों सरकारी  स्कूलों में वाटर प्यूरीफ़ायर लगाने की तैयारी 

अस्पताल के लिए सड़क न होने पर रास्ते में कराना पड़ा  प्रसव (कुल्लू )- (अमर उजाला)                                                          

Shocking news

Nirbhaya anniversary: Four years later, Delhi girl raped in car (DN&A)

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