Wrong Priorities

Once upon a time a traveler met an old man in a village. The villager had completed most of his life. When the traveler met him, he was seen planting a mango sapling in his field. Quite astonished and equally worried about such an old man working hard under the Sun, the traveler asks him,

"At this age, oh oldman, why are you working hard planting these saplings, instead of resting inside your house? You would not anyway be around by the time the sapling grows into a fruit-bearing tree"

The oldman replies, "Had my forefathers thought this way, I would not have been able to taste the fruits when I was young. My dear son, I am not planting these for myself. These are for the next generation"

I do not think there is any Indian who would not have heard this story. The story stands testimonial to the thinking behind the culture of our motherland.

In our times, however, we are hearing news of felling trees in the name of "development", whether it is a road-widening project, or bringing in Metro rail system to mitigate the traffic woes, or bringing in a new dam against a river, etc.

Have we not, as a community, come a long way... ... ...
in the wrong direction though !