Our Home
Winters in Pune are always dry. Yet, this year, it rained – heavy clouds reigned through Novemeber and early December and we didn’t know whether to pack the umbrellas in or bring out the winter wear. Our suppliers of organic suppliers sent us an email which read thus:
The heavy rains in the past few days have destroyed many of the crops planted by farmers in our group.
More than 50% of the rice crop has been destroyed, and regular as well as leafy vegetables have suffered a lot.
This Thursday we had called a meeting of all the farmers to analyze the situation, and almost everyone’s crops were seriously affected by the unseasonal rains.
We have no choice but to wait until these crops and the newly planted seedlings recover and start producing again.
We request you to kindly bear with us during this difficult time.
Climate change is affecting everyone, everywhere. So when I came across this film by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, we sat to watch it immediately. Its about our Home – this beautiful planet and all the miraculous life-forms that rely on each other for their survival and sustenance. Then there’s us, the human species, who’ve done more damage in the last 50 years than all of humanity put together. Here’s the trailer:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8IozVfph7I&fs=1&hl=en_US]
The film is available free and available on youtube. For more information, you can check out their site.
Brief Review:
Home begins with stunning aerial shots of our home’s natural wonders – volcanoes, oceans, glaciers and all life that inhabits them. The narrative is simple and straight-forward. As it traces the origin of life, the earth’s delicate balance becomes all too clear. Informative and awe-inspiring at the same time, the movie is a rich source of how we came to be and the perils that face our earth as humans continue on their incredible, hungry plundering of its resources.
Everything is connected, the narration reminds us over and over. We exist in a balance in which every being has a role to play, has its place and value.
Sometimes I have a vision of this: a human being begins gnawing at his own fingers, then arms and so on, till he has consumed, destroyed himself. Not realizing that what he’s consuming is very much his own self and soon nothing will be left of him.
The movie ends on an optimistic note, mentioning the efforts being taken by various countries – Denmark and Costa Rica in particular – who are embarking on renewable energy or other environment rescue projects.
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