Forest cravings

Forest are brutal. There, the species don't live for peace. They don't live by peace. There, every day is a violent struggle. Animals prey on each other. They kill the weaker ones by breaking their bones and cracking their necks. They make a meal on them, raw, and then they live a few more days. Bigger trees hide the sunshine for those in the ground and they couldn't grow well. The flowers are enticingly colorful so that they attract the bees. Elephants in the rain forest uproot the trees rigorously for making way through it. The food web is a constant reminder that one has to run and outrun. All this to live.

When we look at a forest and the ones who are roaming around, we see hope. They all have survived. They all have lived through. They all have struggled. They all have killed. They all are warriors in a real-life battle. No ego about that. They wander naked in the jungle, sleep tight when they get time, live in their own community, or wander alone. They help and remain faithful to their clan, the small immediate group to their proximity. Even there the areas are divided as their territory. If someone breaches it, the protocol has been challenged and the struggle would just get stiffened. It's about losing one's life in a real battle. No police would come to stop it. They will use their sharp pointed nails and teeth to outdo their rival. But, you know what? As soon as the life struggle stops, they respect each other & their identities, they are tolerant of each other, they don't unnecessarily bully, they don't call names and sexist, racist, casteist remarks. There is no class. They all respect their territories and others, i.e. their whole world. They are so internationalist!

A tall building over a plain land, in contrast, gives no hope. It sucks the life out of one and makes us a true zombie. A zombie staring at a mobile screen, writing contemptuous tweets, sitting in a cold air-conditioned room, wasting water, consuming all kinds of resources based on one's privileges, and blaming the government, a group of top hierarchical humans for the global warming! You wanna stop it? Regulate yourself and your comforts. Humans are not intelligent. They are the real fools. We hunted animals for entertainment, to the point that none of their species remained. We hunted them not by foot & using our claws, but sitting on a giant elephant and with the help of several slaves accompanying us while we shot them using our guns. We make customs to regulate others, skipping oneself. I don't wish to see a rhino or a critically endangered giraffe before they are extinct. I wish to see a kindhearted, sensible, self-regulated, empathetic jungli human. They are fast extinct. Naah, I don't see it in the mirror.

I am hopeful. I see hope. I believe that things will change & that we will integrate our so-called development with the forests'. Let's not forget that 99% of human history is just paleolithic! All professionalism & marketing & making money is a thing of very recent history. Huh!