Of leaves and cowdung

My readers might ask why I am reverting to the past to find examples of instances that describes a management concept. The more I look at things in a detached, philosophical way, the more I am amazed at how our ancestors were actually practicing most of the concepts that we talk about today and it is almost as if we are reinventing the wheel.

A stray remark by a student of mine acted as a trigger to this post. He works for the Petrochemical Industry and was concerned that one of their products, the ubiquitous black garbage bag, might be banned through a Governmental legislation in Kuwait. The reason being it bio non degradable.

In an era where grave concerns exist about global warming, environmental pollution and general lowering of quality of air we breath or the water we drink, I could not but look back at my childhood and smile at the wisdom of my forefathers who were more in sync with the environment.

My grandparents used plantain leaves while eating or used a small spoon made of Jack fruit tree leaves to drink porridge. Both readily available in the backyard. All you needed was a small knife to cut the leaves and exactly 10 seconds to manufacture the spoon. They were also easy to dispose as they were thrown under a coconut tree and the bio degradable leaves served as a manure for the trees.

When we were travelling, grandmother will first dry the leaves and pack the curd rice, lemon rice or tamarind rice in the leaf and tie it with thread made out of plantain stem. Not for her the plastic bags or even the cumbersome tiffin boxes. The dry leaves ensured the freshness of the food and it was easy to dispose off the used leaves, which were, well you know, bio degradable and Eco friendly.

One of the enduring memories of my school and college days were the numerous train journeys I made to Delhi where my brother was working. On the third morning, the train will chug into Agra Station. Icy winds will be blowing and then you have the welcome sight of the tea wallah of Agra who will serve hot tea on a 'kulhar' - an earthen tumbler. The predecessor of the use and throw plastic cup but with one advantage - kulhar is extremely Eco friendly and very much bio degradable.

Talking of Kulhar one is reminded of the taste of the water stored in an earthen pot and the small earthen lamps used to be lit in dozens during Karthigai festival. I have always marvelled at the artistic skills of the potter whose hands used to create earthen items of various shapes and sizes from clay. He lived in poverty but never compromised on his craftsmanship. How about the weaver, who was instrumental in creating hand loom cloth made of cotton? Cotton hand loom clothes are most comfortable to wear and are extremely Eco friendly unlike their polyester sibling.

Grandfather always had at least 3 cows. Apart from giving fresh milk, the cow dung was used for various purposes - creating an quick artificial flooring to manure for the vegetable garden.

I can go on and on. People those days were living in harmony with the nature and took sufficient care to ensure they did not disturb the balance of nature. But as we 'progressed', we have mindlessly destroyed all the good practices one by one and are standing on the verge of a crisis of international proportions. Environmental pollution due to plastic bags, Styrofoam cups, obsolete computer motherboards, printer cartridges, industrial waste and other bio non degradable materials has become a genie that has been uncorked. No one knows how to put the genie back in the bottle. Turning the clock back by a few years could help perhaps. Where oh Where have the wisdom of the forefathers gone?