Benita Maria Biju loves to read and write. She takes inspiration from her mother and father who have always encouraged her to write. She tells us it’s because of them she is able to write wonderful stories and poems today.
It was a fine morning with a bright sun in the sky and it looked as if it was staring at me. I got up and asked the Sun, “Why do you look at me and shine? It is just because of you that my mom forces me to go for a morning walk. Ah! If you were not there, it would be very dark and my mom would not force me to go out. Soon, I heard my mom yelling at me to go out. “Rita, it is time to work as hard as a flint for your morning walk.” I put on my jeggings and went out. After I walked for about an hour, I went back home with a packet of chips.
I sat in the corridor, eating the chips and drinking a hot cup of tea. Just then, I remembered that my father had instructed me to read the newspaper daily. I started reading it loudly just to make my mother believe that I was being a dutiful daughter. I threw the packet into the dustbin and ran to see what my mom was doing.
I was surprised to see my mom listening to the morning weather forecast. I thought she wanted to set an example for me. Later, when I asked her whether it was going to be a pleasant day with a “cool breeze,” she said, “Yes my child, go and study for two hours. Then we will go to the super bazaar.” After two hours of studying, my mother asked me to get ready. A few minutes later, we drove to the nearest super bazaar.
On our way, I noticed that the car of our neighbour was emitting a lot of pollution. When we stepped inside the store, I saw that the wind was strong and had a fearful roar and the clouds were pitch dark. I was really scared. The clouds thundered and I told my mom to go back but she took my request as a joke.
A few minutes later, a salesman informed us about a rainstorm. All of a sudden, the lights went off and we heard a bang. A basket fell. The thunder frightened children and they started running and crying. The shop owner told the salesman, “Turn on the generators.” His reply saddened us, “Since we did not know about the rainstorm, we kept the generator outside the shop and now it is filled with water.” The storm calmed down only four hours later.
On the way back home, I asked my mother about the incorrect weather forecast. To this she said, “Since we are polluting the earth, changes are taking place on the earth and in the environment.”
These changes are very critical in our daily life. Because of these changes in the environment, climate will also change. In winters, sometimes it gets hot. Soil erosion, deforestation, earthquakes, and unexpected floods are other changes which humans cannot manage. All these impact our health as well. There are chances that new diseases will affect us which we have not even heard about. Children are the most vulnerable to these diseases. Their immunity is diminishing gradually. Their lifespan is also reducing because of the antibiotics used to cure this type of disease.
If we look at history, we notice a major difference in the lifespan of an individual. They did not have to take antibiotics as they took only natural remedies, which are freely available in nature. But pollution has destroyed all the natural resources from the earth.
Thus, we should sincerely take it as our responsibility to stop polluting our environment. We should stop doing things which disturb the ecological balance. We should spread this message to all and only then we can build a healthy and non-polluting environment. Otherwise, these problems will exist forever and will affect future generations as well. We can think and act to preserve a pollution free earth for them.
(This was first published in the 1-30 April 2017 edition of the Gobar Times.)
She loves to read and write, and takes inspiration from her mother and father who have always encouraged her. She tells us it’s because of them that she is able to write wonderful stories and poems today