I came to know about this website through a good friend and I must say that it is a very noble initiative. Being away from home, as today's generation (and tomorrow's future) we tend to forget the responsibilities we have towards the paradise we live in- Sikkim. It is indeed sad to see that endless material pursuits have gripped everyone. For once I wish all of us could just take a minute and reflect back on our rich roots.
Going through the website, I realized that Tenzing Lepcha is my junior from school. I would personally like to applaud him on the stand he's taken. Along with him, I would also like to extend my best wishes to everyone involved. Weeping Sikkim is a great platform to voice one's opinion and I would love to be a part of your wonderful efforts.
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5 comments:
MANKIND.....
WE CAN MAKE FLOWERS BLOOM IN THE DESERT....
AND CAN SURELY MAKE THE RIVERS DRY!
WHAT AN IRONY..
AFTER AN ATOMIC BOMB..... BULLDOZER IS THE SECOND LETHAL WEAPON CREATED BY MANKIND..
Pls take the time to read this.....
In 1854,the wise Indian Chief of Seattle replied to the offer of the great White Chief in Washington to buy their land.The reply is profound.It is beautiful.It is timeless.It contains the wisdom of the ages.It is the first ever and the most understanding statement on environment.It is worth quoting....
"How can you buy or sell the sky the warmth of the land"the idea is strange to us."If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water,how can you buy them?
Every part of the earth is sacred to my people.Every shining pine needle ,every sandy shore,every mist in the dark woods,every clearing and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people.The sap which courses through the trees carries the memories of the red man.
"The white mans dead frget the country of their birth when they go to walk among the stars.Our dead never forget this beautiful earth,for it is the mother of the red man.We are part of the earth and it is part of us.The perfumed flowers are our sisters,the horse,the great eagle these are our brothers,the rocky crest,the juices in the meadows,the body heat of the pony,and man all belong to the same family.
"So,when the great chief in Washington sends word and he wishes to buy our land,he asks much of us.The great chief sends word he will reserve us a place so that we can live comfortably to ourselves.He will be our father and we will be his children.So we will consider your offer to buy our land.But it will not be easy,For this land is sacred to us.
:This shining water moves in the streams and rivers is not just water but the blood of our ancestors.If we sell you land you must remember that it is sacred,and you must teach your children that it is sacred and that each ghostly reflection in the clear water of the lakes tells of events and memories in the life of my people.The waters murmur is the voice of my fathers father
"The rivers are our brothers,they quench our thirst,the rivers carry our canoes and feed our children.If we sell you our land you must remember,and teach your children,that the rivers are our brothers,and yours and you must henceforth give the kindness you would give any brother.
"We know that the white man does not understand our ways.One portion of land is the same to him as the next,for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes frm the land watever he needs.The earth is not his brother but his enemy,and when he has conquered it,he moves on.He leaves his fathers graves behind and he does not care.
"He kidnaps the earth from his children,his fathers grave and his childrens birthright are forgotten.He treats his mother the earth,and his brother the sky,as things to be bought,plundered,sold like sheep or bright beads.His appetite will devour the earth and leave behind only a desert.
"I do not know,our ways are different from your ways.The sight of your cities pains the eye of the red man,but perhaps it is because the red man is a savage and does not undrstand.
"There is no quite place in the white mans cities,no place to hear the unfurling of leaves in spring or the rustle of an insects wings,but perhaps it is because i am savage and do not understand.The clatter only seems to insult the ears,and what is there in life if a man cannot hear the lonely cry of the whippoorwill or the arguments of the frogs around a pond at night?I am a red man and do not understand.The indians prefers the soft sound of the wind darting over the face of a pond,and the smell of the wind itself,cleansed by the midday rain or scented with the pinon pine.
The air is precious to the red man,for all things share the same breath-the beast,the tree,the man,they all share the same breath.The white man does not seem to notice the air he breathes,like a man lying for many days,he is numb to the stench,but if we sell you our land,you must remember that the air is precious to us,that the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also receives the last sigh,and if we sell you our land you must keep it apart and sacred as a place where even the white man can go and taste the wind that is sweetened by the meadows flowers.
"So we will consider your offer to buy our land.If we decide to accept,i will make one condition. The white man must treat the beast of this land as his brothers.
"I am a savage and i do not understand any other way.I have seen a thousand rotting buffaloes on the prairie,left by the white man who shot them from a passing train.I am a savage and i do not understand how the smoking iron horse can be more important than the buffalo that we kill only to stay alive.
"What is man without the beast?If all the beast were gone,man would die from great loneliness of spirit,for whatever happens to the beasts soon happens to man.All things are connected.
"You must teach your children that the ground beneath their feet is the ashes of our grandfathers.So that they will respect the land.Tell your children that the earth is rich with the lives of our kin.Teach your children what we have taught our children,that the earth is our mother.Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth.If man spit upon the ground,they spit upon themselves.
"This we know:the earth does not belong to man:man belongs to the earth.this we know:all things are connected like the blood which unites one family.All things are connected.
"Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth.Man did not weave the web of life:he is merely a strand in it.Whatever he does to the web he does to himself.
"Even the white man,whose God walks and talks with him as friend cannot be exempt from the common destiny.We may be brothers afterall.We shall see.One thing we know,which the white man may one day discover-Our God is the same God.You may think now that you own him as you wish to own our land:but you cannot.he is the God of man,and his compassion is equal fr the Red man and the White.This earth is precious to him and to harm the earth is to heap contempt to its creator.The white too shall pass,perhaps sooner than all other tribes.Contaminate your bed and you will one night suffocate in your own waste.
"But in your perishing you will shine brightly,fired by the strength of the God who bought you this land and for some special purpose gave you dominion over the land and the red man.That destiny is a mystery to us,for we do not understand when the wild buffalo are all slaughtered,the wild horses are tamed,the secret corners of the forest heavy with scent of many men and the view of the ripe hills blotted by talking wires.Where is the thicket?Gone.Where is the eagle?Gone.The end of living and the beginning of survival"
Well history has taught us that all developments need not necessarily be good for humanity. Uncontrolled, unplanned exploitation of nature undoubtedly leads to devastation. See what happened to the Indus Valley civilization and the Mesopotamian civilization ( the gift of Nile and presently Egypt). These regions, history tells us were the most fertile areas on earth. But excess human interference, greed to exploiy and harvest more crops than required later turned these fertile areas to what we now call the Thar Desert and part of desert which falls in Egypt. It is time to learn from Historical Blunders.
The drive from Silliguri to Gangtok used to be beautiful. It is still beautiful but only till Rangpo.
We must remember development and generation of revenues should be need based and not greed based.
Thanks Yeshey.....
Please write more often.....
I have been away from Sikkim for quite some time now and when my sis told me about this website...I was so proud to know that the people from Sikkim care so much about things like enviroment and have actually taken such a noble step to protect and preserve nature and to keep our beautiful Sikkim from ecological degeneration. I have been going around telling everyone I know about this website....I am so very proud of u guys...all the best to you....and hats off to you all!!! Rinzin
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