Page 36 - Khabar Magazine (February 2020)

Musings

the disease of hubris that has that are Hindu-centric rather
them looking directly at a so- than Hindustan-centric?
lar eclipse as if their retinas Perhaps the Modi Ministry
could withstand fire. could benefit from a reread-
In his first year in of- ing of Section 420 in the In-
fice, President Trump said, dian Penal Code to clarify its
“The Paris accord will un- disambiguation in how Mus-
dermine (the U.S.) econo- lims are treated as a source of
my,” and “puts (the U.S.) at terror. Certainly a unified In-
a permanent disadvantage.” dia would be more influential
Donald Trump moved the on the world stage if her fis-
needle from intolerable and siparous tendencies did not
unlivable to unthinkable. distract from the real terror
Midway through Trump’s of global warming.
term, The Atlantic Monthly Imagine an earth with
listed some 50 unthinkable the blood-red skies of Aus-
acts that characterized the tralia where people flee to
Trump Presidency. In es- beaches to escape bushfires
sence, while the earth burns, racing towards the coast. In
Trump fiddles on his many Kerala, my hope is that we
incendiary interests includ- are not required to retire to
ing the following from the The author with his granddaughter, Eshni. backwaters houseboats to
past 12 months: building a escape the fires of climate
wall at the US/Mexican border, adding trillions to the change; my hope is that we are not all sidetracked
fiscal deficit, overseeing a contraction of domestic by our “Distractors-in-Chief;” my hope is that with a
manufacturing, threatening and waffling on tariffs, Surya Namaskar, we salute the sun as it rises; my hope
recklessly executing an unethical—if not illegal—as- is that hope is not eclipsed.
sassination of a foreign official to gin up a war to win While it has been lovely to celebrate time with
votes, and responding to the inquiry of impeachment family on the tranquil waters in what Keralites call
with a multitude of distracting lies. “God’s Own Country,” inevitably all of us want to re-
On paper, Prime Minister Modi is the anti-Trump, turn to our wonderful lives in Pune, Melbourne, Lon-
almost an exemplar of climate change leadership. He don, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and California. None of us
has done much to champion India as a global green desire a world where we, or our brothers and sisters,
leader; indeed, one can see solar panels floating on are climate refugees, or refugees of any sort seeking
acres around COK, making Kochi’s airport the first in to escape home due to persecution of our race, reli-
the world running fully on solar power. But despite gion, or sexual identity. How about we convey our be-
his laudable renewable energy investments in solar lief in the art of possibility and translate “Amar Akbar
and wind farms, the Prime Minister was a reluctant Anthony” for the next generation of (grand) children
signatory to the Paris Agreement; he has argued that making Planet Earth their home?
as a developing country focused on giving her citizens We make the impossible possible and the
a better life, India must not be constrained from in- possible impossible!
vesting in coal and other dirty fossil fuels. There is Together in one place, we three stand united:
much truth to the position that emerging economies Eshni, Ayesha, Emily.
merit dispensations not afforded to countries which
developed during the Industrial Age’s plunder of the
earth; but one must ask questions about Narendra Dr. Rajesh C. Oza, a Change Management Consultant,
Modi’s commitment to giving all Indians a better life. envisions 2020 as a transformative year. His vision: Replace
What is the Prime Minister’s philosophy of so- shortsighted politicians with clear-eyed leaders like Greta
cial justice? What are his intentions to make India Thunberg (climate strike activist and Time’s 2019 Person of
not only a global green leader but also a moral lead- the Year) and Varshini Prakash (challenger of climate change’s
er? Why does his office in Delhi encourage policies status quo and Executive Director of the Sunrise Movement).

34 • FEBRUARY• 2020 KHABAR MAGAZINE