#earthday18

[dhanranjan-kushwaha]

आप सभी को विश्व पृथ्वी दिवस की हार्दिक शुभकामनाएं। आइए, इस खास अवसर पर हम सब मिलकर भावी पीढ़ियों के लिए वातावरण को प्रदूषण मुक्त करने, अपने आस-पास सफाई रखने एवं धरती को हरी-भरी व सुंदर बनाने का संकल्प लें।#earthday18 https://www.instagram.com/p/BwimKEPhH8c/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=nbj0j40otgwy

[kaustavsongman]

View this post on Instagram

‪On #EarthDay18 if these popular singers @selenagomez, @officialjaden, @Drake & @Beyonce can take a stand to restore the ecosystem, so can we, within our means. #SelenaGomez, #Drake, #JadenSmith, #Beyonce #EarthDay‬

[baymediasoftideaaccomplishe-blog]

Individual Effort Counts! 

[themirrorsisters]

RP @BrujaAislada #Forest #EarthDay #forest #moss #NatureBeauty #EarthDay18 #EarthWeek #wildflowerhour #HappyEarthDay #trees #green @AncientTreesATF Earth Day: don't rely on others to protect & … https://buff.ly/2HjwIa8

[2minutetales]

Childhood tree tales of a city kid: Why it is important to notice trees in our lives.

I have often wondered about the silent generous memories of trees. Imagine if there were a device that could transfer these memories to us. Would we have enough storage space for their tales? Their reveries and reflections? Imagine if we could capture their ancient stories, passed on root to root, would we still be so cock-sure about the centrality of our own little lives in the larger scheme of things?

I don’t know if there are more city-bred unfortunate souls like me who read teary-eyed about human tales of connection with these magnificent creatures. Most of us stumble upon the real import of their life giving nature only occasionally - on the one-off trips to the wild. Otherwise, like the black backdrop that highlights what is going on in front of it, they remain hidden from our conscious attention, silently absorbing our self obsessed noises and maddening speed. 

But childhood is a space of unadulterated deep experiences; when the din inside our heads doesn’t block the richness of our sense perceptions. My childhood tree-tales might not be as magnificent as someone who lived say in the villages nestled in the Western Ghats or the North-east, considering I grew up in a concrete cacophony in the capital city of the country. Nevertheless they are symbolic of the poor little city kids who make do with what is available and scramble for their space with nature. 

I remember the sole mulberry tree in the whole colony that was hanging on bare threads of life but would nevertheless provide us the rare joys of its fruit. Multiple little fingers would wait expectantly to rummage through the gifts it would drop once in a while. It would act as wicket stumps for those inclined towards cricket and as the reluctant companion for those insisting on role-playing as monkeys. 

In the harsh summer of Delhi, when the sun would beat down as if taking its vengeance on us for human destruction of the planet, we would take the shelter of the sprawling Neem tree. It would witness our never-ending spree of games. Some of these would be legitimate - like gallery, dog-and-the-bone, chain-chain, vish-amrit (local form of ‘lock and key’) or pitthoo (or what the suaver among us would call ‘seven stones’) while some completely illegitimate, born out of the virgin territories of our own imaginations. The bountiful tree would shed its leaves for our pre-Holi shenanigans and drop its little round fruits for our faint-hearted versions of maram-pitti (the Indian version of dodgeball). 

We would go completely berserk around the giant Banyan tree in the biggest ground of our colony. It was the centre of our little planet, owning the space majestically. It would stand as an unflinching umpire when multiple groups would jostle for their space - some wanting to play “serious” - say cricket or football - and some just wanting to fool around. Many a chuppam-chuppai (hide-and-seek) games would be based entirely around it and the slightly more adventurous among us would venture to swing on its thick hanging roots in the night as part of ‘truth-or-dare’ expeditions, despite it being the protagonist of multiple ghost stories - some handed down over generations.   

These trees played the larger-than-life ‘Rajnikant-type’ roles in the lives of us city kids rather than the more realistic roles they play in the lives of country-side children. But nevertheless I am glad that because of the forces of childhood play, we atleast got introduced and intimate with them. These childhood experiences gave me latent memories, on the foundation of which I am able to harness a certain respect and reverie for their species - a certain desire to get to know them better. On this international Earth Day, let us reflect on what kind of world we are creating for the kids in majority of our cities. Not only does the education system give these life-giving forces of nature a complete amiss, but we are also increasingly depriving children the chance of an experiential friendship with them through a tacit acceptance of the extinction of outdoor play. 

This is grave injustice. Just close your eyes and care to think about the trees in your life and you will know the answer why.                       

Read the whole special issue of Indian Express on trees on the occasion of Earth Day, but especially the one by Stephen Alter here: https://goo.gl/5mNaiG

[5minofscience]

Happy Earth Day! For more jokes and their explanations visit 5minofscence.com Share it! #badsciencejoke #sciencejokes #jokes #EarthDay18 #earthday #EarthDay2018 #happyearthday #Science #stem #ecology #OpenScience #party #Planeta #planet

[5minofscience]

Happy Earth Day! For more jokes and their explanations visit 5minofscence.com Share it! #badsciencejoke #sciencejokes #jokes #EarthDay18 #earthday #EarthDay2018 #Oceans #happyearthday #Science #stem #ecology #OpenScience

[brownbaggrocery]

Save the Earth, preserve the future of children.