Wordly, unwise

Human error

We should be wrapping the planet in shrink wrap and preserving it for the future. Instead, we are kneading toxins in it, microwaving it, slathering it with all kinds of ‘cides’ — insecticides, germicides, rodenticides. In all this, what we are heading towards cannot be brushed a-cide, I mean, aside.

At this point, I don’t think we even know how far ahead we have gone. I’d wager we’ve reached the edge. And we are not walking back because we are more short-sighted than me without my spectacles (Yes, I admit I once gobbled up a paper napkin thinking it was appam. But, I am not ashamed — I was saving the world, one paper at a time). We are happily sinking our greedy teeth into hormone-pumped mangoes, dousing ourselves with toxic deodorants, shoving pollutants in the air and patting ourselves on our backs for what we should be mourning.

While we search for intelligent life outside the planet, do we even realise how stupid life on this planet has become? Why are we so stupid? Why doesn’t the nation want to know that ever?

Recently, I was in the US, admiring the seeming perfectness of things around me.  Plump, puffy clouds bobbed above us as we sped through Michigan towards the airport: the holiday was over. They looked cute: chubby Pokemons playing pranks above us. Two tall chimneys appeared, stuck like giant cigarettes in the ground, puffing tubby coils of smoke upwards. Interestingly, the smoke was the same colour as the clouds.

“Look at that, mamma,” my daughter pointed towards it, “It looks like a cloud-manufacturing factory.”

It actually did! The smoke looked exactly like the clouds. Puff. Puff. Puff. It was joining the clouds in a fascinating rhythmic flurry. And that reminded me — the frothy lakes in Bengaluru look like they are covered with soft, chaste snow — a beautiful sight to behold, if one is unaware of what is actually causing it.

The deceitful world we have created for ourselves is as fake as Rowling’s. The only difference is that this one is killing, not entertaining us. In fact, we need Harry Potter to get his broom and beat us senseless till we realise what we are doing.

Care for some steamed corn with a side of tofu and some zucchini?

And a glass of milk?

A bowl of seedless papayas?

Sounds like a healthy meal, doesn’t it? But, with the liberal GMO-isation of foods, this meal could be killing you faster than burgers and fries.

A GMO, or genetically modified organism, is a plant, animal, microorganism or other organism whose genetic makeup has been modified using recombinant DNA methods (also called gene splicing), gene modification or transgenic technology. Studies have shown that they may be making us immune to antibiotics, increasing toxicity in our bodies in addition to not giving us the nutrition their original cousins provided.

Yes, humans are capable of inventing stuff that are well-intended, but are harming us. Like those WhatsApp ‘good morning’ images.


Homewreckers

We say this planet is our home, but we are rendering it homeless. The very elements that nurture it — air, water, soil — are play dough in our monstrous hands to which we add our resourcefulness to create weapons for mass destruction. We make Hitler sound like a Mary Poppins in comparison.
One in eight of the 82,000 ingredients used in personal care products are industrial chemicals, including carcinogens, pesticides, reproductive toxins, and hormone disruptors. And you thought the worst bad make-up could do is to turn you into Kim Kardashian?

We are happily eating GMO foods, wearing chemical make-up, microwaving our food, chopping trees and watching RCB play. Okay, the last one is not ruining the planet, just us.

Why did god let humans become all-powerful? He should have given plants the powers to lift their sturdiest branch and hit every nature-offender. Swish. Swoosh. Bam. One tight slap.