It was middle of the day and sun rays were filtering through clouds. Right in the mid of Jungle, her only companion was her partner. Light breeze was ruffling through her hair. She was happy.
She said: Look around, nature is beautiful. How exhilarating, how peaceful, how beautiful. Away from the vagaries of the world and free of all worries, life is playing with colours of nature.
He said: But I do not see any beauty in the nature.
She said: You don't see any beauty in the nature? You must be joking.
He said: I am not joking. You are saying that nature is beautiful, but I see only its ugliness.
She said: Look at this grass, how soft, how beautiful. I wish I keep sitting on this grass forever.
He smiled: Don't dare to do that. There is no hospital nearby. You fail this grass is soft and beautiful because you have not lived in the lap of nature. Have you ever noticed the number of insects living in the grass? It is wet with dew, if you sit on this grass for a long time you will catch cold. Nature is inconvenient and incomplete.
She was surprised: Is nature incomplete?
He explained: Yes, nature is incomplete. That is why men have taken recourse to artificial creation. Grass is soft and beautiful but it is also wet and full of insects. Consequently man has created soft cloth, which neither is wet, nor houses insects. You can see the ugliness of this place in winters when it is engulfed in fog. When the cold wind makes the body shiver. In summers the hot and dry air makes it unbearable for men. To avoid these inconveniences man has made houses. In these houses men can use heaters in winters and coolers in summers. Nature doesn't see the convenience of men, so it is incomplete.
This conversation is an (uncouth) translation of a small episode in a book titled Chitralekha written by Bhagwati Charan Verma.
And it so beautifully reflects on the dilemma that we face in today's world. Development vs. environment. Convenience vs. coexistence.
We have travelled so far with our present world view to provide conveniences and luxuries to ever increasing number of mankind, that we fear to reflect on the path we have chosen.
In Mahatma Gandhi's words: Nature has enough for men's' needs but not enough for men's' greed.
Isn't NOW a good time to reflect on this thought?