Skip to main content

The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role , Part One

The Ailing Planet: 
the Green Movement's Role,  Part One 




About the author


Nani Palkhivala
Nani Palkhivala, also known as Nanabhoy  Ardeshir Palkhivala ,was born on 16 January in 1920 in Mumbai , India.  He was a jurist ( an expert in law ) and  he was also an economist. He was educated at Master’s Tutorial High School, Mumbai. Then he joined St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai. He was an excellent scholar. He got his master’s degree in English  literature. Then he joined Government Law College, Mumbai.  Soon he became an excellent barrister of his time. He was also a leading interpreter of Indian Constitutional Law as well as  he was an Economist. This great Indian personality died on 11th December, 2002, Wednesday.


The following article was written by Nani Palkhivala and
published in The Indian Express on 24 November 1994. The
issues that he raised regarding the declining health of the earth
continue to have relevance. (Close connection )

Para One           Green Movement
ONE cannot recall any movement in world history which has
gripped the imagination of the entire human race so completely and so rapidly as the Green Movement which started nearly twenty-five years ago. In 1972 the world’s first nationwide Green party was founded in New Zealand. Since then, the movement has not looked back.

Meanings
1. gripped                    (controlled)
2. Green Movement   (an environmental movement)

Para Two           Shift of View from mechanistic to holistic
We have shifted — one hopes, irrevocably— from the
mechanistic view to a holistic and ecological view  of the world. It is a shift in human perceptions as revolutionary as that introduced by Copernicus who taught mankind in the sixteenth century that the earth and the other planets revolved round the sun. For the first time in human history, there is a growing worldwide consciousness that the earth itself is a living organism — an enormous being of which we are parts. It has its
own metabolic   needs and vital processes which need to be respected and preserved.

Meanings
1. irrevocably  finally
2. mechanistic  connected with the belief that all things in the universe
                             can be explained as if they were machines
3. a holistic and ecological view    the total picture of the environment
including living and non-living organisms
4. perceptions                                 ( insight)
5.Copernicus                          Nicolaus Copernicus was a mathematician and astronomer who placed the sun at the centre of the universe. He was born in 1473 and died in 1543 in Poland
6. consciousness                             awareness
7. metabolic                                     related to the chemical process in
living things that change food into energy Para Three              Our Ethical Obligation

The earth’s vital signs reveal a patient in declining health. We have begun to realise our ethical  obligations to be good stewards of the planet and responsible trustees of the legacy to future generations. The concept of sustainable development was popularized in 1987 by the World Commission on Environment and Development. In its report it defined the idea as “Development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs”, i.e., without stripping the natural world of resources future generations would need.

Meanings
1. ethical                                related with beliefs about right or wrong
2. obligations                         commitment
3. stewards                             marshal, a person who organizes large
                                             public events
4. trustees                               persons  to control money or property
5. legacy                                 inheritance
6. sustainable development growth involving the use of natural products and energy in a way that does not harm the environment
7. stripping                             taking  

Para Four                    Shift from Dominion to Partnership
In the zoo at Lusaka, Zambia, there is a cage where the notice
reads, ‘The world’s most dangerous animal’. Inside the cage there
is no animal but a mirror where you see yourself. Thanks to the
efforts of a number of agencies in different countries, a new
awareness has now dawned upon the most dangerous animal in the world. He has realised the wisdom of shifting from a system
based on domination to one based on partnership.

Meanings
1. Lusaka                              capital of Zambia
2. dawned upon                    began to realize
3. domination                       authority

Para Five            Sharing the Earth with other living species
Scientists have catalogued about 1.4 million living species with which mankind shares the earth. Estimates vary widely as regards the still-uncatalogued living species — biologists reckon that about three to a hundred million other living species still languish unnamed in ignominious darkness.

Meanings
1. catalogued                        listed
2. vary                                    differ
3. uncatalogued                    not listed
5. reckon                               think
6. languish                             suffer
7. ignominious darkness     disgraceful oblivion

Gist
Green Movement
Shift of View from mechanistic to holistic
Our Ethical Obligations
Shift from Dominion to Partnership
Sharing the Earth with other living species


=======================================================
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Mother at Sixty-six by Kamala Das

Hello everybody, hope that you all are fine. In this blog I am going to talk about the poet Kamala Das, then there will be the poem My Mother at Sixty-six and it will be followed by the theme of the poem and word meanings. My Mother at Sixty-six About the poet: Kamala Das is the pen name (nom de plume) of Madhavi Kutty.  She was born on 31 st March 1934 at Punnayurkulum in Kerala. She is one of the greatest poets of India. She is known for her indigenous style and flovour of poetry. She wrote many novels and short stories. Her poetic creations are contained in four volumes. They are: Summer in Calcutta (1965), The Descendants (1967), The Old Playhouse and Other Poems (1973) and Stranger Time (1977). Apart from writing in English she also wrote in her mother tongue, Malayalam. She was a very sensitive writer who could deal with intricate human psychology. She died on 31 st May 2009 in Pune of Maharashtra. My Mother at Sixty-six was written in 1999.   My Mother a...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Laburnum Top by Ted Hughes

Poet Ted Hughes was a British poet. He was born on 17 August 1930 in Yorkshire in England. According to the critics, he is the best poet of his generation and one of the greatest writers of the 20 th century. He was married to American poet Sylvia Plath from 1956 until 1963. His last poetic work Birthday Letters (1998) dealt with their relationship. His first collection The Hawk in the Rain (1957) was highly acclaimed. However, probably Crow (1970) was his most significant work. Hughes’s early poetic works dealt with the nature and savagery of animals. He served as Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1956 until his death in 1998 The Laburnum Top Ted Hughes                  The Laburnum top is silent, quite still In the afternoon yellow September sunlight, A few leaves yellowing, all its seeds fallen. Till the goldfinch comes, with a twitching chirrup A suddenness, a startlement, at a branch end. Then sleek as a lizar...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Thing of Beauty by John Keats

A Thing of Beauty JOHN KEATS   About the poet JOHN KEATS   FATHER’S NAME: THOMAS KEATS, a livery stable keeper MOTHER’S NAME: Frances Keats Born:31 October 1795,Moorgate, London, England Died:23 February 1821 (aged 25),Rome, Papal State, Cause of death: Tuberculosis ( his brother , Tom and mother also died of tuberculosis) Alma mater: Clarke School, Enfield,King's College London Literary movement: Romanticism Relatives:George Keats (brother) Endymion : According to Greek mythology , Endymion was the shepherd son of Aethlius. He was a beautiful young man. He loved Selene, Moon goddess, often known as Diana. He lived on Mount Latmos.  He had a vision of Cynthia,( Selene) the moon goddess. He was so enamoured with her that he decided to seek her through the forest or even under sea. A Thing of Beauty A thing of beauty is a joy forever Its loveliness increases, it will never Pass into nothingness; but will keep A bower qu...
Post a Comment
Read more