I have a question for all you lovely children out there:
Why do you love your Mother?
Is it ‘coz she gives you love & care?
And nurtures you for ever & ever;
Is it ‘coz she gives you food & clothes?
And sees to your needs & desires;
Is it ‘coz she gives you shelter?
And teaches you lessons at being better;
Is it ‘coz she keeps you out of harms way?
And knows what is best for you before you say;
Then…
WHY don’t you love Mother Nature?????
She gives you more than your own Mother!!!
Why??? Is it ‘coz Mommy Earth looks all ‘gol matol’ & not glamorous like our own ‘Yummy Mummy’ Malaika Arora???
No, I haven’t completely lost it… it’s just that I am a bit freaked out by our children’s total disconnect to Mother Nature (& of course to their Mother’s Nature too). It’s like the entire lot is suffering from Hylophobia*… not to mention proved beyond doubt Nomophobia*. The only connection they understand leads to the nearest plug point.
There were those rosy times, not far away, when children used to view our Earth like ‘Anne of Green Gables‘ did, with rapture. They had to be cajoled, lured, bribed & forcibly pulled INSIDE their homes. Not to be unfair, the course of action still remains the same. They have to be cajoled, lured, bribed & forcibly pulled OUT of their homes. And if Montgomery were to write a book now, it w’d be more on the lines of ‘Anne In The Land of Cables‘.
Now as usual we need somebody to blame (we are such pros at the blame game, aren’t we???). Although I am itching to put the blame on that someone, ‘lurking in the dark’… ultimately, it is at us, the Parents, that the accusing finger points… & I am mighty sure the taste of that is not in the least “Finger Lickin’ Good”.
Their disconnect stems from our disregard, for the most precious gift God has bestowed on us – Nature. So immersed are we, in our own greedy selves that we are actually blind (or playing the part well) to the fact that Nature, with its flora & fauna, is fast dying an unnatural death, meeting up to & satisfying our ever growing materialistic demands.
All day long I keep harping about the fundamental duties my children (& of course my husband too) are supposed to perform. But if ever, God forbid, they were to turn around & stand tall in the legendary Shahrukh Khan pose, arms widespread & ask me to state at least one of the ‘Fundamental Duties’ mentioned in the Constitution of India, Article 51… I w’d ‘ve easily won the Oscar for enacting the part of a ‘Fish out of Water’ & the Award goes to…
For those fundamentally GK challenged parents like me, our seventh Fundamental duty is -”to protect & improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers & wildlife, & to have compassion for living creatures”. Yeah… might sound foreign, but since we take to everything ‘foreign’ (including Lauren from foreign) like ‘Winnie the Pooh’ to honey, we will grasp its meaning real soon. All you need to do is put it up somewhere (a copy inside your hearts too) where you can read it daily or till you start performing this DUTY. Make a head start… and the rest will soon follow (jai ho! to our herd mentality, which we never seem to shed).
Till then… to keep you ‘Nature Bound’ & at the same time, keeping our fast vanishing flora & fauna in mind, I will show you some easy flower decorations, that need only next to nil flowers (mainly leftovers from elaborate arrangements) & not fresh ones at that.
Felt flowers have been fitted with toothpicks and then inserted into a pair of soap bars wound together with jute. Cute and way too simple… isn’t it???
A bunch of ripe Wheat ears have been placed in a kettle (decoupaged, since my painting skills have been found wanting). Pleasing to the eyes… if not the ears.
Two mini wreaths have been made out of some ‘leftover stems of flowers and sprigs‘, attached to dried vines using reel wire, tapes and ribbons. One crowned my gal and the other graced my wall. Ooh… la… la.
Perform your duties my beauties lest ‘disconnection’ would not be our pressing problem… ‘Extinction‘ sure might be.
* Hylophobia: Fear of trees.
* Nomophobia: Fear of being without, mobile phone coverage.
