The Earth Day, now celebrated on April 22 worldwide each year, is the largest secular holiday on this planet celebrated by a billion people, according to the first Earth Day 1970 organiser Dennis Hayes. It is now observed in 192 countries. In Bangladesh, though, the occasion passes without much notice. A brainchild of peace activist John McConnell, the first observance of the occasion in honour of the planet Earth was on March 21, the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. But a month later United States senator Gaylord Nelson introduced another Earth Day on April 22 in the United States of America and in 1990 under Denis Hayes the occasion was given an international character with its celebration in as many as 141 countries. Today the April 22 Earth Day stays the worldwide.
Yet the Equinox Earth Day is celebrated in the northern hemisphere on March 20. In support of the equinox Earth Day, celebrated anthropologist Margaret Mead declared in 1978, "Earth Day draws on astronomical phenomena in a new way -which is also the most ancient way -by using the vernal Equinox, the time when the sun crosses the equator making the length of night and day equal in all parts of the Earth". As part of a campaign for making young people in America aware of the need to protect the Earth, the early celebrations of the day primarily focused on educational institutions. The option for April 22 was made on consideration that the week between April 19-25 was a time when college campuses were full and yet there were no exams.
Apart from these modern versions of setting aside a day in honour of the mother Earth, there is an ancient tradition in this part of the world for leaving the planet to itself, totally undisturbed. The nomadic boat people called 'Bedey' known for snake charming, practising a little witchcraft and voodoo combined for so-called treatment of certain diseases have taken the devotion to the Earth to the extreme. For a week in the month of Ashad or Shraban depending on the traditional calendar, they do not step on soil, Earth's surface that is because they believe it is Earth's menstruation period. They take refuge in their floating boats and do not cook foods during the time. Fried, puffed and beaten rice together with fruits such as mangoes, banana and jackfruit make for their food during this period. Before getting on board their vessels, they offer puja and thus express their reverence to their mother Earth.
When it comes to modern life, this kind of withdrawal from active life is out of the question. But the message the nomadic Bedeys give through their conscious abstemiousness is a deep respect for the planet that has been sustaining life on it. Leave it alone for sometime so that it can recuperate from the damage done to its environmental health. What counts here is the spirit with which the unlettered people treat the source of all living beings, no matter if it is a fertility cult. This may be a cult but it is one that should inspire others to follow suit. The Hindu community also used to observe this occasion called 'Ambubachi' but the more educated they become, the greater the neglect for such rituals among them.     Â
Today the nations of the world have been observing the Earth Day, the World Environment Day and many such occasions and the message could not be got across at the grass-roots level. With technological gadgets now reaching the remotest corner of a country, the task should have been simpler and easier. But no, the message concerning the need for active participation at the individual level in a programme aimed at allowing the Earth or environment to regain health goes unheeded. But then how could leaders in the ancient time convince people at the bottom of the merit of such programmes. Was it a blind conviction because it was tinged with religious beliefs or rituals? Today armed with scientific knowledge, people should have refrained from actions proving a direct threat to environment or the Earth's sustainability.
What has gone wrong? Today the human kind is looking for ever more comfort and they have at their disposal enough money to procure the means of such comfort. Thanks to scientific and technological development, the production line is getting ever smarter and more efficient. The size of the world's population has long grown disproportionately larger compared to the Earth's capacity. So there is an unhealthy competition at all levels and all over the world. People waste more than they consume. The throw-away culture has given rise to a problem of unused rubbish to which even recycling cannot be a proper answer. Keeping population size within a reasonable limit together with restraining consumerism can perhaps stop the environmental deterioration. The world's floral and fauna resources have to be left as much undisturbed as possible in order to allow those to replenish.
Today people are unlikely to get inspired by preachers as they surely would have in ancient times. But now if their analysing faculties for self preservation can be stimulated in a clever way, courtesy of information technology, mass participation in programmes like protection of rivers or water bodies or campaign against environmental pollution can work wonder. Observance of the Earth Day will be fruitful if public awareness level can be raised to the desired level.  Â
nilratanhalder2000@yahoo.com
Respecting Earth\\\'s inviolability
Nilratan Halder | Published: April 25, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00
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