The Nano discussion carried on to some concerns about the environmental cost of development. Very interesting and so am including some of my views on the subject.
India, China, USA rank among the highest polluters of the world. But as long as we want to wear beautiful clothes (rather than clad in environmental friendly leaves), build a house with concrete (rather than wood and mud), drive a car (rather than a bullock cart), use a fridge (rather than just cooking everyday and throwing away the leftover)…..all these and many more, basically, take the convenience of modern living, we can’t stop the age old economic formula of demand and supply. We demand the modern priviledges and hence, there is a supply for it. Are we willing to give it up ? To regress back in time and live like the Amazonian tribes ? Guess not. Very few among us try to be environmentally friendly and even if we take steps to be so, they are too little, too late. I religiously recycle everything possible, but still feel that I sometimes don’t think twice before printing an email. How many of us will take the bus to work rather than drive in the comfort of the car ? Use of public transport is better for the environment, but we balk at the thought of it. Cycle to work is a good option, but how many of us do it ? I take the old fashioned cloth shopping bag for my weekly grocery shopping, but easily give in to the convenience of using the plastic bags on the days that I forget the shopping bag at home. Like me, so many of us are probably thinking about the environment, but doing just about little or nothing for it.
Are we, as a nation, willing to forgo being an economic superpower for the sake of a better environment ?
Are we, as individuals, willing to go back to nature, live a life off the field in a small village and forgo the luxuries of modern living for the sake of a better environment ?
If the answer to the second question is a no, then the answer to the first question is also a no.
Nano would not have come about if people did not want it. When we drive cars costing 2 lakhs or more, then will the person sweating it out on a hot summer sticky polluted road on a bike costing Rs 60,000, not want the comfort of a car at Rs 1 lakh or so ? Is it fair that he be denied the comfort that is now the privilege of the middle classes alone ? The man walking on the road, dreams of owing a cycle. The man on the cycle, dreams of a scooter. The man on the scooter, dreams of a car and the man on the car, dreams of a better car. The aspirations go on and that is normal in all humans. Its part of evolution.
What perhaps is needed is pragmatic, sustainable and environmentally responsible solutions to fulfilling such aspirations. Maybe a Nano that runs on renewable energy sources rather than crude oil is a solution ?
Friday, 12 September 2008
Nana Nano to Haha Nano
Bits and pieces of a discussion around Nano - Singur crisis that I had with a friend. Will elaborate in a separate post, but just to share it as a prelude....
The Nano debate is an interesting one for me. I was a part of Tata once (Telco, Jsr) and have seen first hand how much the people surrounding Jsr and Ranchi (Tata Steel) mines have benefited from having such plants in their vicinity. Labour welfare in Tata companies are very,very good – trust me. I am a bit biased towards Tatas, since I have seen all the privileges that the workers enjoyed . Had it been any other industrial group, I would have probably been able to be more objective. But having experienced first hand the benefits of being part of the Tata group and the ethos of that Industrial house, I am a bit reluctant to dismiss it off as plain corporate greed.
On one hand, we have farmers who are committing suicide owing to utter poverty, but on the other hand, if they are provided with an opportunity to work for an industrial house, they are assured of a better livelihood, good medical benefits, etc. Compare the life of a Telco Jsr worker with the poverty stricken farmer on the verge of committing suicide – which one is better ?
Secondly, I am by nature, extremely suspicious of politicians – in any shape, form, size, sex, hue, etc. Mamata supporting the Singur farmers is nothing more than rousing a rabble to gain some political ground away from CPM. Also, there is an issue of monetary compensation. How much ‘cut’ can the unavoidable Trinamool dalal manage from the Tata’s compensation to the farmers ? There is very little genuine concern for the farmers, let me assure you. Even if one among them sees some sense in his son training in industrial skills and getting a job in the Nano plant, the Trinamool workers will suppress his voice and mutate it so that only Didi’s voice is heard and Didi of course speaks for the farmers , whom the ground workers have silenced conveniently.
I will have to write a post, will do. Its just that I’m not finding the time to gather my thoughts and present an objective point of view, but hope to do it soon. I’m always suspicious of NGO workers and ‘activists’ like Ms Arundhati Roy and her fellow tribes, or politicians (as mentioned before) who scream for the rights of the downtrodden and then go back to the comforts of the ivory towers, far,far away from the languishing broken down cottages of the newly widowed wife of the farmer who’s struggling to feed the hungry mouths of her children.
The Nano debate is an interesting one for me. I was a part of Tata once (Telco, Jsr) and have seen first hand how much the people surrounding Jsr and Ranchi (Tata Steel) mines have benefited from having such plants in their vicinity. Labour welfare in Tata companies are very,very good – trust me. I am a bit biased towards Tatas, since I have seen all the privileges that the workers enjoyed . Had it been any other industrial group, I would have probably been able to be more objective. But having experienced first hand the benefits of being part of the Tata group and the ethos of that Industrial house, I am a bit reluctant to dismiss it off as plain corporate greed.
On one hand, we have farmers who are committing suicide owing to utter poverty, but on the other hand, if they are provided with an opportunity to work for an industrial house, they are assured of a better livelihood, good medical benefits, etc. Compare the life of a Telco Jsr worker with the poverty stricken farmer on the verge of committing suicide – which one is better ?
Secondly, I am by nature, extremely suspicious of politicians – in any shape, form, size, sex, hue, etc. Mamata supporting the Singur farmers is nothing more than rousing a rabble to gain some political ground away from CPM. Also, there is an issue of monetary compensation. How much ‘cut’ can the unavoidable Trinamool dalal manage from the Tata’s compensation to the farmers ? There is very little genuine concern for the farmers, let me assure you. Even if one among them sees some sense in his son training in industrial skills and getting a job in the Nano plant, the Trinamool workers will suppress his voice and mutate it so that only Didi’s voice is heard and Didi of course speaks for the farmers , whom the ground workers have silenced conveniently.
I will have to write a post, will do. Its just that I’m not finding the time to gather my thoughts and present an objective point of view, but hope to do it soon. I’m always suspicious of NGO workers and ‘activists’ like Ms Arundhati Roy and her fellow tribes, or politicians (as mentioned before) who scream for the rights of the downtrodden and then go back to the comforts of the ivory towers, far,far away from the languishing broken down cottages of the newly widowed wife of the farmer who’s struggling to feed the hungry mouths of her children.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
