2011 Year of EFI

What a year is the feel one gets when you look back at 2011. Roots & Shoots India grew tremendously and evolved into the Environmentalist Foundation of India. We tried doing it all from documentary films, to animal rescues, to newer newer and more newer volunteers.

Cold Shoots is what we began the year with, extensive competition and definitely the most deserving won. Cold Delhi mornings didnt stop us from shooting for Elixir Poisoned a film that took us places. We are definitely not the kind who get satisfied by just shooting, so we cleaned the Sanjay Lake in Trilokpuri. Naqeeb sir and his students Sarthak and many others helped us clear large amounts of trash. When one was cleaning the lake the immediate thought was about bird nests and they were installed too. If Delhi was doing so much could other cities lag behind, ofcourse not this was the year of Zoo Volunteering. From Delhi-Hyd-Madras-Vizag we volunteered in these zoos with Madras being the maximum no. of Anipal ZVPs at 21 weeks of volunteering.

Heat Camps proved to be the melting pot of all our thoughts thus emerged our craze to stage street plays. The city of Madras and its people gave us a reception like never before, for the first time our cause was stronger than our performance. We were not just entertaining but were transforming. From BC to Savera to Birla we were everywhere. Amazing actors were born in each of our volunteers. We needed to stabilize the bags project thus came in the Women Self Help Group who are employed by us to make bags and sold to commercial establishments in Madras. The Sparrow conservation efforts have taken wings like never before, our nests now line the Madras skyline atleast in 19 different places. Our movies Kurma and Elixir Poisoned travelled more than any of us with 18 international screenings and 113 national screening.

We covered many schools this year and newer boundaries were penetrated including that of Vishakapatnam. The short but effective stint at Lucknow has catapulted our projects to a new height. From the principals roundtable to a flash thought which grew into a mighty D-Day our awareness campaigns were not just preaching but practicing and inspiring. Madras, Hyd and Lucknow are emerging into our strong forte where we have new leadership ready to run the show. EFI made people laugh, cry, volunteer which all is a culmination of their feeling towards the country and her wildlife. We fear where we go from here, coz now the people are beginning to trust us and we need to work harder than every before to ensure that we are different and always at EFI our CAUSE is the HERO. We strongly understand that we are not to be celebrated as we are just correcting ancestral errors and trying to live the right way which is the green way.

2012 looks very promising and demanding with a new animal rescue center, biodiversity park, Caught By, BiDi, Forest Extension and much much much more. As always proud that we all are born in a country which is home to all these wonderful wildlife.

Jaihind.

Where is the HUMAN in every Being

December 12th n 13th have been traumatic because just when hopes were rising within me that through awareness and projects we could bring change, this incident pulled me down heavily. Andrew's (volunteer colleague) phone call from Vanchuvancheri (Near Tambaram, Chennai-India) has changed my life forever. He narrates a story as to how a dog was beaten to death by two people, because the dog attacked their chicken.

Beaten to death would be an understatement in this case, the entire incident as narrated by Andrew. " The 5 month old puppy who is a very active, shrewd and fun to be with was caught forcefully and held in a jute sack. The open end of the jute sack tied down, the sack with the dog inside was thrashed on the concrete road below until the little one succumbed to injuries and stopped whining. The blood dripping sack was carried quietly through the bushes to a near by pond, where the dead puppy was thrown. The husband and wife were brimming with glory that they could kill the dog and the wife was specific that the dog be beaten atleast 10 times before opening to check if he was dead. She is a mother of two kids, I wonder if she values her children at all."

As I go on an inspection to find out what really happened and to register a complaint, I am appalled. The 5 month old puppy floating in the village pond, her face swollen,bulging eye balls and a cracked jaw. Close to her floats another adult dog, now decaying there atleast for a week. This isn't a one off case, a series of dog murders.

I write this blog not because one can shower sympathy for the dog but should realize that most of us do not have the humaneness in us anymore. Police action has been initiated against the accused by the legal team of Environmentalist Foundation of India, but, is that the answer to all the pain the little dog went through. Do not discount this as just the murder of a dog, because this is the murder of human values and the emergence of a devil in people of this so called developing society. From just talks on Climate to conserving wildlife on computer desktops, its heights of hypocracy. Its time we acted upon such issues and not just express concern and be worried. VOLUNTEER for a cause, do not claim marches, marathons and posters as volunteering.

Are u able to help one life form a day??? Do your actions reflect your thoughts???

Don't expect returns when you volunteer, be selfless. If you can't bring a change which will positively impact the society and the environment then there is no point being educated.

Raging anger from within and questions on how we can bring a positive change looms large over my head. Rather than being optimistic, I wish to be practical and the road ahead is difficult by all means. Wish there was a way where all other life forms but for man could be saved.