While the Aravallis Fade...the stillness remains!

By: Khushi Bhatia | Research & Ideation Team Member | C-Cube

Generated by Google AI

It is quite interesting to experience events that we had always foreseen as children, having a painting contest on save earth, the art which showed a tap with dripping water or half of the face of the earth breathing in black fumes under masks, that art won.

It's then quite interesting to realise that we had quite really anticipated the future all along and what a coincidence can it be that while we knew it all along the way, it still happened the exact same way and we still managed to make good reels, headlines and content out of it, just to read, listen and nod and say "oh the end is so near"

Taking for instance the case of Aravalli, not that verdict has been put on hold, there are still some questions unanswered. I would soon go through the political and principled reasons for the judicial oversight but before that I think a seek into the civilian perception of climate is equally important, specifically in a democracy like India so to speak.

The point of contestation here is not just about the verdict but about the public voices that sprouted just on time. Have Aravalli not always been exploited or is it the first time that the public has a reason to be raged. Is it really the long symbiotic relation we had or just a fear of being deserted that chose to speak. And thus the question is important, not for abstract enlightenment of human virtues but to answer deeper dilemmas like

Do humans need an incentive to protect the climate, is our association mutual or transactional?

Secondly, to have the apex court of the nationally integrated judicial system take such a nonchalant view of the matter should not just be condemned but should be deeply understood so as to understand the context in which the verdict grew.

The principle here is simple, and it is not just about aravalli or a SC verdict but how we as a society respond to threats. Let's understand prioritisation here, 19.7 million people in Delhi chose to wear masks and put up air purifiers because going to work was a necessity, college students continued to inhale the poison because in today's times, degrees do define worth, and not to forget, all the rickshaw pullers, all the bus drivers, all the cleaners and workers continued to do their work, because without the money they anyway won't survive, the question I put up here is, do we really have a choice? Can we really choose to not be a part of the system and thus remain unaffected by it?

This is the compulsion, the capitalist compulsion where decisions are structurally driven by short term incentives than long term consequences. So even if we are aware of the aravalli being cut, we shall protest just to an extent that Delhi is not deserted and we can continue to do what the system has already decided. I am not just against the influence of a globalised world here but the deeper psychological impact that penetrates. And so the aravalli would be saved, the decision would be reversed but this article is to remind that that should not be the joyous moment, instead a break from the structured narratives and realise that we have saved just enough to breathe, and never to reciprocate to nature, what we had exploited in centuries. In a system that conditions our decisions, moulds our voices and systematically compels us to be a part of it, it is the  realisation of this compulsion that can make all the difference for it is much better than the manufactured joy of ignorance.