The Earth Hour: When is the next hour?

And the lights went off and the planet was engulfed in darkness! Newspapers around the globe flashed the now monotonous pictures of great cities of the world switching off their mundane lights. Also particularly notable was the uniqueness of all these photographs. All the montages featured showed two pictures side by side. One was that of the area in an otherwise ordinary night and the other showed the very same carbon copy, the only difference being most of the office buildings and great monuments were devoid of lighting. The very next day, the Earth Hour was claimed as a great success as if the objective had been achieved in a single stroke of display of human concern for the environment which by the way has already passed the point of no return.

Now just to paint a grim picture of the very scenario in black and white mode, we take you to the Beijing Olympic Stadium in 2008. The fireworks and laser display enthralled the crowd and drew tremendous applause from them. I would have bowed down to the human race if they had displayed some common sense and had minimized that tremendous wastage of electricity and "what not" energy source on the days of the opening and closing ceremonies. I am sure some million electron volts could have been saved. What about the hugely insane amount of electricity being used to light up those neon signs in Miami and the casinos in Las Vegas? But of course, why would the Americans care? They would claim that all households in their country might have access to more than enough power (of course electric) to run all their electric appliances. Of course you should also take into concern that each household over there would contain electrical appliances found in sum total of minimum of 3-5 Indian households. So what they are using in those above mentioned tourist havens are just surplus power (not my theory). I certainly hope so and certainly envy them if that is the case.

But this is only the beginning of the problem. The Earth Hour, which was recently publicized to a frenzied extent, was observed by many nations. Whether that power saved was for the global human population or for their individual national public is a question which has confused me. Because here in India, I can tell you that negligible households would have turned off their power. Of course by "households” I mean low income and middle income households which constitute almost 90% of the total households in this country. I am talking about our own families and our neighbourhood Uncles and Aunties. How many of them would have switched off their lights? None. The reasons are manifold. As a payee of Electricity Bills, they will seldom waste Electricity in their homes so they don't need to perform short cut penances and indecent austerities (like the Earth Hour). Secondly leave the rural areas, even Tier 2 cities and Metros experience solid power cuts as a form of retribution from the Government. If you persuade these people to shut off their lights, the situation will be akin to a bull in a china shop. I am not taking that bullshit propaganda fed to us (in the form of ads and posters) by the media saying that WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) has started this initiative. If WWF wants to save this planet ask them to go to Brazil and stop those timber mafia and avoid denuding the Amazon rainforests which provide almost 15-20% of our planet's oxygen. Here we are in the peril of not getting enough pure oxygen to breathe into our already soot filled lungs and now these organizations are behind our butts to virtually force us to switch off the lights. They will be more than happy to show the figures they have achieved in persuading people to give up lights. That will make a crowning achievement indeed (sigh). Sorry I don't have innumerable PCs, Vacuum Cleaners, Dish Washers, Plasma TVs, Frost Free Refrigerators and so on. So I am not wasting any power on unnecessary indulgences of the body and mind.

So how many years before nobody will be there to celebrate this "auspicious" hour? Nobody knows this gem. Development and concern for nature can't go hand in hand. And no I can't see neither deteriorate. The temperatures will continue to rise and the polar ice caps will continue to melt leading to rise in sea levels worldwide. So humans of coastal areas beware. And yes humans will be the only species remaining after all the rest will be decimated. Last I heard there are only 1500 tigers in India from 8000 or so during Project Tiger initiation. Replicate this for each and every visible species and you get the answer. Ice or sand will conquer since desertification will occur. So no amount of making documentaries or talking green will save this planet. And no don’t get afraid I am no member of any Doomsday sect. It is still some hundred years away (I hope) before this happens. You know the Earth is a tough nut to crack and that sucker will not go down to us humans without a fight. Take my word on this.