Admissions Closing Soon | Cohort starting from 20th July

| APPLY NOW

I Have A Dream For India Where People Recognise That Mother Earth Has Rights Too

February 18, 2019

Recently in Brussels (the capital of Belgium), thousands of school students came out on the streets to protest against their government’s apathy towards climate change and the effect it will have on their basic rights, like the access to clean water and clean air. And here we are living in a country where the air is getting more toxic every year, rivers are becoming dumping grounds for industrial discharge and other waste materials, and landfills are polluting our groundwater—so why we are silent about it? It feels like we have made peace with whatever has been happening around us, and it’s slowly devouring all of us.

If we look at the numbers, according to the Air Quality Index data of 2018, out of the 15 most polluted cities in the world, 14 were in India. The Water Quality Index ranks India at the 120th position among 122 countries. The Environmental Performance Index puts India at 177th rank in a list of 180 countries. India is also one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change, which again has serious implications for the future as we are a predominantly agrarian economy. We might be surpassing other countries in terms of GDP growth, but, on the indicators mentioned above, we are far behind. This puts a question mark on what kind of future we are heading towards.

Bolivian President Eve Morales rightly pointed out “Sooner or later, we will have to recognise that the Earth has rights too, to live without pollution. What mankind must know is that human beings cannot live without Mother Earth, but the planet can live without humans.”

The good news is that the situation is not out of control. We still have time to reverse this cycle of destruction, provided we act now. We don’t need a revolution, just a simple dual-way approach

First, be cognisant about your own individual ecological footprints. Ask how you can reduce your footprint through your actions every single day, be at home, work, in the mode of transport you use, and more. Well, this might sound simple, but these measures can have an immense impact on others and can induce a similar thinking approach. BRAC in Bangladesh is the perfect example of this. Through a behavior change approach, they overcame many social problems they were facing.

The second way is to build a strong commune of people from all strata of society who share the same vision and collaborate with each other for better planning. Activism doesn’t only mean protesting and campaigning. It also involves creating a robust network which will make sure that our voices matter, and that they reach the people who are destroying nature for their own benefits.

Martin Luther King once said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter”. So let’s not be silent about it anymore. Let us all join hands for this movement. I believe we are compassionate human beings and we do care for Mother Earth. As our future generations are looking at us with hope in their eyes, will we leave a better place for them to live and prosper? I dream of an India where we not only rank in top positions in different ecological indices, but also where ecology and human beings thrive together and coexist peacefully. A dream which is possible!

Chetan Patil is a student of the 2nd batch of the Post graduate Programme in Development Leadership at the Indian School of Development Management.

More From Blog

How is the PGP-DM different from MSW

The Indian School of Development Management (ISDM) is a premier institut

April 20, 2023 | Admin

A Girl’s Unflinching Spirit

Amidst the diverse, beautiful colours of food, attire, landscape with it

July 05, 2022 | Aishwarya Srivastava

How Development Management Fuels Social Enterprises and Social Entrepreneurship

Many people have a deep interest in joining the social sector, but very

May 31, 2022 | Admin

Why the Social Sector is the Next Place To Be

For us to understand Development Management, it is important to know wha

May 30, 2022 | Admin

WHY CHOOSE DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT IN A POST-PANDEMIC WORLD?

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted people’s health, livelihood, infrastructu

May 06, 2022 | Admin

Empowering Marginalised Children through Taekwondo

Shashvi Thakur is a student of ISDM's Post-Graduate Program in Devel

April 27, 2022 | Shashvi Thakur

Women & The Chulha At Rural Immersion

A student from the social work courses - Tenzin Chorran from Post-Gr

April 26, 2022 | Tenzin Chorran

Leading the Gram Panchayat in a Gunghat

Suchananda Roy is a student of ISDM's Post-Graduate Program in Devel

April 25, 2022 | Suchananda Roy

The Dying Art of Making Bamboo Baskets

Shubhalaxmi Dalvi is a student of ISDM’s Post-Graduate Program in De

April 24, 2022 | Shubhalaxmi Dalvi

The Voice of a Labourer

Grishma Kajbaje is a student of ISDM's Post-Graduate Program in Deve

April 23, 2022 | Grishma Kajbaje

Invest in people for organisational effectiveness

March 28, 2022 | Dr Aruna Pandey, Dr Yogita Patra

COVID Action by ISDM Students

  Arpita Sur, PGP DM 2020-21     

July 05, 2021

Learnings from the Past……. New Beginnings for the Future

As we get ready to welcome the Class of 2021-2022, here’s a sneak previe

July 02, 2021 | Lakshmi Rao

Ecosystem Study: Benchmarking Talent Management in Indian Social Sector

July 02, 2021 | Priti Dargad and Leena Sushant

Does India’s social sector need better ‘management’?

Young people, students especially, often ask me, “What should I study to

April 08, 2021 | Ingrid Srinath

Whatsapp