Climate change
Where Have the Birds Gone?
Will we follow them?
In a rustic village nestled in a valley surrounded by sky-high mountains on one side and a flowing river on the other, lived a community of cattle herders. Their livelihood depended on their cattle, and the village’s lush pastures provided abundant green grass for all.
One day, a milk contractor from a distant city arrived, offering a handsome sum for every litre of milk. Tempted by the promise of wealth, Shyam, one of the herders, decided to increase the size of his herd. Seeing Shyam’s success, other herders followed suit, each wanting a share of the profit.
Year after year, the herders continued to expand their herds. What was once a land of plenty became strained under the weight of the growing cattle population. The lush pastures turned bare, unable to sustain the increasing numbers. The cattle grew lean, and the milk became thin. Starvation set in, and the cattle population dwindled.
Eventually, the milk contractor, finding no profit in the thinning milk, departed. The once idyllic village was left with barren pastures, no money, and few surviving cattle. The prosperity of the commons soon turned into the tragedy of the commons.
Tragedy of the commons is an economic concept, whereby several people with unlimited access to a limited resource soon exhaust the resource. The name may be new but the concept traces back to antiquity when Aristotle wrote “That which is common to the greatest number gets the least amount of care. Men pay most attention to what is their own: they care less for what is common.”
Where have the birds gone?
Now this curious thought struck me while sitting on my roof enjoying a peaceful sunset on a warm summer evening. This year the summer has been the hottest of all I have ever experienced. The sun has been unbearable. Earlier, I decided to not use the air conditioner this summer but the heat got to my head. It seemed impossible to live without it. The effect of climate change and global warming felt much more tangible than it ever felt.
My thoughts came back to the present. The sun was rushing fast towards the horizon. The sky was now tinged with red. Moon was trying to make itself seen at the zenith. Jupiter hung low in the sky towards the dusk. A soft breeze brushed through my hair. The camaraderie of all the elements made me want to pause the moment. But the sun, like always, had other plans. A laughing dove flit through my sight. That’s when it occurred to me. The camaraderie of the moment missed all the flocks of birds.
20 years ago when I was young, the evening sky was always full of flocks of birds returning to their nests after a hard day’s labour. Travel back in time and one would have found countless pigeons, parrots, doves, and cuckoos adorning such evenings. Evenings sky used to be filled with the symphonies of all the caws, coos, whistles, tweets, and chirps. But now these flocks have become a rarity. The picturesque evenings are completely silent. It is as if the universe wants us to contemplate our actions.
As I was contemplating the sky on the other side of the horizon took up the slatey grey. The gloaming took the hues of purple and mauve. The sun rushed down but left me with a question.
Where have the birds gone?
And will we also follow them?
Climate change is our tragedy of the commons. We humans have been reaping the resources so much that now our pastures are getting thin. It is high time now that we humans must think before digging another oil well, pulling down another forest, or moving another mountain for that mine. To paraphrase what Gandhiji once said, the earth has enough to fulfil everyone’s need but not everyone’s greed.
What can I do about this tragedy of the commons? I am not the one digging that oil well or burning that forest down. Well, we may not be the ones doing these things, but we are the ones who are consuming everything. The best we can do to avoid this tragedy is to watch what and how much we consume.
I see my government announcing plantation drives or supporting EV production. I see activists protecting trees from being cut down. What I don’t see is anybody raising their voice against consumerism. Just a few days back I read this article — Luxury Brands Prefer to Burn Millions of Dollars’ Worth of Clothes To Letting ‘Wrong’ Shoppers Buy Them At Discount
Who is allowing these practices? Why is there no ban on such wastage of resources common to us all? Is this how we are going to combat Climate change? There are some serious questions that we humans need to ponder. And the biggest of them all remains the same.
Will we follow the birds?
If you like my post kindly like, comment, share, and subscribe. You may also want to read another post on consumerism — Akinchan
