Writing on the Wall and our Shortsightedness

Abstract

The Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, which brought the issue of pesticides to the center stage is dedicated to Albert Schweitzer, who said, “Man has lost the capacity to foresee and to forestall. He will end by destroying the Earth”. This paper will try to understand and analyse our position with regard to the prediction made by Albert Schweitzer. Are we still moving in the same direction of self-destruction or have we regained our capacity to foresee and forestall? Man’s interaction with nature has altered it in very significant ways which in turn has been affecting the life of man in unpredictable ways.  The way forward is from adverse Anthropocene to conscious Anthropocene. Shankar’s 2018 release, Akshay Kumar and Rajnikanth starrer 2.0 warn us about the problems of radiation which will wipe away the birds from Earth before us going the same way. How the overcrowded telephone network towers and the radiation from them will wreak havoc, if not checked right away is the point of discussion in the movie. 2016 release Remo D’ Souza’s A flying Jatt, starring Tiger Shroff also speaks of the impending doom if we do not manage our waste properly. The pollutants which we are releasing generously into the environment are nothing but our own suicide in installments. The writing has been on the wall for long. Poornachandra Tejaswi in his novel Chidambara Rahasya depicts the picture of a society which ignores this writing on the wall for short term gains and this shortsightedness results in the destruction of nature, culture and the life as we know. This paper intends to study the equation between man and nature as depicted in the above mentioned movies and literature.