IT'S TIME WE CARE: a thought on World Environment Day

The stretch from Mao Gate to Imphal on the historic National Highway (NH) 39, now renamed NH 2, has been my most frequently travelled road. It holds many mixed memories ranging from life threatening situations to life’s simplest joys. Among many others was the memory of the picturesque scenery of lavish green forest and springs of water gushing down from the mountains running into the river below. With such splendors all around, it was easy to fall into a world of daydreams and by the end of the journey be thoroughly renewed.

Slash and burn - Photo taken on the highway

However over the years, I've witnessed the rapid deterioration of this rich land into an almost pitiable one. I've watched in pain the green mountains being stripped off their natural beauty at many places. And now they are mere bare-backs of yellow landmass. I am neither expert in environment nor an agriculturalist but I’m told that the degradation visible to my layman eyes is caused due to extensive practice of ‘Jhum’/ ‘shifting cultivation’ besides timber business.

The outcome - Photo taken on the highway 

With the growing population, the need for food has increased by manifold and thus the increase in abuse of the environment. This need has also further shortened the cycle period of jhum cultivation to 3 or 4 years and sometimes even lesser when actually the years needed for recharging such land is at least 10 years. So, for this reason, besides many other reasons, I think it’s wise to promote small family.

Terrace fields - Photo courtesy: Veio Pou

On the other hand, we have been practicing terrace cultivation for growing rice for generations now. Unlike jhum cultivation, this form of cultivation is environment friendly as it prevents soil erosion and retains the fertile top soil. So, can we employ this method to grow other crops in large scale too? I’m told that elsewhere people successful grow potatoes, maize and others on terrace fields. If some people have been successfully growing other crops on terrace fields in our region, I think they should share their experiences and encourage others to do so too.

The other issue that concerns me is how to increase production without further expanding the farm land. Obviously, we can no longer afford to bring down the limited forest areas. Towards this end, will it be possible for us to adopt the System Rice Intensification (SRI) method of cultivating rice? This system has been widely accepted to be environment friendly and at the same time yield more crops in the same area of land as compared to traditional method. On a very small scale, I had asked my sister to try this out on an experimental basis and the result seems quite positive. I may be wrong but I see some hope in this system.

Right now I feel so hypocritical writing this sitting in an air conditioned room. But the concerns are real, believe me. I genuinely wish to see the stretch from Mao Gate to Imphal regain its lost glory. 

No Barbie for my kid …. At least for now

Debbie at work

Mothering a two and half year old girl I have now lost track of how many times people have asked me why I haven’t bought her a Barbie. To be very frank, initially I had the same feeling about Barbies as I have with many other items that I see in the departmental stores. I’m talking about the feeling that I get when I see those beautiful bright shinning items under the well illuminated shelf which I never knew existed but suddenly I badly need them. Similarly, I didn’t realize my kid needed to play with Barbie dolls until I saw every other kid playing with it!

Without thinking deeper into it, I had planned to buy a nice Barbie or two for her. As a kid I had loved dressing up dolls and hand stitching small clothes for them, I remember admiring Barbie dolls in the shops and wishing I had one for myself. While reminiscing my childhood days, the fun that I had and the fun I missed out, I wanted to fulfill them all for my child.

However before I could buy one, I was suddenly alarmed by the increasing number of people asking me when I plan to buy my child a Barbie. I stopped and contemplated on why the craze over this particular kind of toy. When I started analyzing, I realized I’ve never come across an ‘imperfect’ Barbie. Every Barbie is adorned with the perfect zero size body, the perfect fair skin and all other perfect features. And this scares me! Before anyone gets me wrong, I must say that I’m neither against perfection nor against striving for it. But yes, I’m definitely against created and assumed perfections which are mostly unnatural. It is also a reality that striving for such meaningless perfection has become so much a part of our lives that many times we think that it is a natural process. Consciously or unconsciously I also catch myself persuing such perfection.

What worries me is what if my child tries to model such perfection? I can foresee strict dieting, extreme exercising, sleepless nights, short lived excitements, frustration and even depression. Even without a Barbie, I have been through my share of striving for such perfection and felt the frustration it caused. I have also watched in pain and sympathy younger girls trying to tread this path and any advice based on my experiences were looked upon as an old fashioned advice. Therefore considering all these factors, I became convinced not to buy my kid a Barbie for now.   

Well, I’m not here to blame Barbie for the wrong going on in the society. But my fear is that it can enhance the problem. So, for now till I find a Barbie that stands out to defy this meaningless perfection, I will not buy a Barbie for my child. And, I not buying it may not change the world but even if it’s just for the sake of making a statement, I will. Yes, I appreciate the launching of dark skinned Barbies and that’s definitely a step closer to making me a customer.  

As for my child I would want her to understand that her fair skin is in no way superior to dark skin. I would also want her to remind a good and hopefully a healthy eater too. I would want her to take good care of body and present herself as well as she can. Finally, she may not have the perfect body and height as the world sees perfection but be proud of who she is and what she is made up of.

On a lighter note, I don’t intend to throw away Barbie gifts. I also accept that maybe some day my girl might just give me her ‘pleasssseeee’ look and I fall for it.