BIODIVERSITY IN YELAGIRI

I recently had a chance to go to yelagiri, a small and non commercialized hill station, few kilometres away from Jolarpettai and Vanniambadi, and among many things that I saw there, one thing that amazed me more was the sheer variety in the Indian biodiversity. As I was visiting the place I become more and more convinced that Subjects like "Bio Diversity" that I study as a elective now in my college, shouldn't be taught inside the four walls of the class room, but rather outside them.

I got a chance to eat a variety of fruits there, some of those fruits we never even heard of in places like Chennai, and some of those fruits like guava, of which we have only eaten the hybrid varieties here. The natural taste of those fruits refuses to go away from my tongue, and I only pray to God that these fruits don't become extinct, so that even our children and grand children could get a chance to taste them.

But then is praying to God alone enough to save these fruits from being extinct. Is it not our responsibility to do something towards it. We Humans are very late entrants into this earth. There are lots and lots of species that had been living in this world for a long long time. When British invade India and treat us Indians, who were living here for a long time, as slaves we don't feel good. But is it not the same attitude that we are showing to our fellow species.

Hold On. I'm not supporting those few so called intellectuals who always fight against any development project in the name of protecting bio diversity just for the sake of publicity. I am also not asking you to open up a seed bank or a gene bank and protect those species. But then I will just say thoughts that occurred in my brain on how to go about it, and ill share it with you. You could add up if you have some more interesting comments,

a) I am not going to ask you not to use two wheelers and cars because they create pollution, but rather request you to avoid them when possible. When you want to go to shop in the next street or visit a friend few streets away, you could do well to travel by foot. By doing this you will also end up getting a good exercise.

b) Plant few plants in your garden, and if your house lacks space, do it in pots in tour terrace. Gardening is one of the healthy hobbies, green leaves surrounding your house will create a good ambiance and will also supply you with some great flowers from time to time which can be given to impress your girl friend.

c) Theme parks are not the only places where we can enjoy. There are so many places in India where we can marvel at the nature. Visit them as and when the time and your pocket permits.

d) Even if you cant do all those things you could at least mail this blog to various people so that more and more Indians will become aware of this important issue.