# Thinking activity on 'Sitanshu Yashaschandra's poem and EcoCriticism' by Devang Nanavati
#Department of English MK Bhavnagar University
∆ Recording of the session :
◆Sitanshu Yashaschandra's poem :-
That olden ochre brown tree trunk
Already sawed and tip-tapped for so many years from now
Was used to make the furniture for home.
The dining table for hasty meals and the chairs,
And the table to write letters to the new acquaintances and to the Seniors
A radio stand from which absolutely fresh news keep flowing daily - so many thing of such great importante
Were Made out of
That olden ochre brown three trunk.
Nowhere a storm struck. Nor did any thunder bolts.
Even not a tint of memory could trace how that tree looked like. Tree ?!
Funny it sounds and I cannot even believe it today
That this table,chairs,writing table,stand,book shelf
All these things
Were indeed an olden tree once upon a time !
Today, it's incredible
And, perhaps I would laugh.
In fact, sometimes, after returning home exhausted, having had a full meal, while reading the latest issue of Jan Kalyan - a gift that comes from a well-wisher...In fact sometimes, as if one fantasises
That
From the arm of the chair lying near this door - blossoms a violet coloured flower,
That
There nods a sour - tasting sweet fruit from the drawer of the table - covered with the paper full of oration notes,
That
A red bird suddenly takes a flight from the shelf where the files of Jankalyan and akhand anand are stacked,
That
The intoxicating fragrance of a spring arriving unannounced oozes into the drawer where the daily wares kept folded.
And, then, again one laugh a little, and feels amused, and remembers
That
The olden ochre brown tree trunk
Already sawed, resped and tip - tapped so many years from now
Has been used to make the furniture for home.
In present era humans become very selfish. They want to control everything on the earth. They use natural resources but forget to increase this resources. In present time there are lots of environmental problems which can become very harmful for everyone. We are suffering from many disaster only because of cutting trees. Like inadequate and excess rainfall, flood, tsunami, global warming, acid rain, etc. So we have to discuss about this all disaster.
●What is EcoCriticism :-
Ecocriticism is the study of literature and the environment from an interdisciplinary point of view, where literature scholars analyze texts that illustrate environmental concerns and examine the various ways literature treats the subject of nature. It takes an interdisciplinary point of view by analyzing the works of authors, researchers and poets in the context of environmental issues and nature. Some ecocritics brainstorm possible solutions for the correction of the contemporary environmental situation, though not all ecocritics agree on the purpose, methodology, or scope of ecocriticism.
●Environmental problems :-
As we know that the earth is now becoming more and more polluted. There are some images that can present the current situation of the earth ….
We are cutting trees for our benefits but we don't think about animals and birds who estimate of this trees. They couldn't speak for them. So the situation is becoming more difficult for them.
Forests still cover about 30 percent of the world’s land area, but they are disappearing at an alarming rate. Between 1990 and 2016We use 1.6 times as many resources as the earth produces in a year. Since humans started cutting down forests, 46 percent of trees have been felled, according to a 2015 study in the journal Nature. About 17 percent of the Amazonian rainforest has been destroyed over the past 50 years, and losses recently have been on the rise.
We need trees for a variety of reasons, not least of which is that they absorb not only the carbon dioxide that we exhale, but also the heat-trapping greenhouse gases that human activities emit. As those gases enter the atmosphere, global warming increases, a trend scientists now prefer to call climate change. Tropical tree cover alone can provide 23 percent of the climate mitigation needed over the next decade to meet goals set in the Paris Agreement in 2015, according to one estimate.
●Causes of deforestation:-
Farming, grazing of livestock, mining, and drilling combined account for more than half of all deforestation. Forestry practices, wildfires and, in small part, urbanization account for the rest. In Malaysia and Indonesia, forests are cut down to make way for producing palm oil, which can be found in everything from shampoo to saltines. In the Amazon, cattle ranching and farms—particularly soy plantations—are key culprits.
Logging operations, which provide the world’s wood and paper products, also fell countless trees each year. Loggers, some of them acting illegally, also build roads to access more and more remote forests—which leads to further deforestation. Forests are also cut as a result of growing urban sprawl as land is developed for homes.
Not all deforestation is intentional. Some is caused by a combination of human and natural factors like wildfires and overgrazing, which may prevent the growth of young trees.
●How many trees are cut down in the year ?
As to the “number of trees” this represents, it's impossible to get an accurate count. Tree density in primary forests varies from 50,000-100,000 trees per square km, so the math would put this number at 3.5 billion to 7 billion trees cut down each year.
"Matter is not how many trees cut in a day. Matter is how many can we stop cutting trees in day?"
●Solution of this problem:-
As a part of nature this is our duty to save trees and plant more and more trees.We use 1.6 wines as resources as the earth produces in a year. Here are some best examples of how we can save trees with some creative ideas.
With this type of creativity we can save trees.If we use plant bamboo and use it insteed of tree we can stop cutting the tree. We cut trees for furniture, fire wood and paper and we can get everything's from bamboo also. Then why cannot we plant bamboo and use it.
" Be the part of solution, not of pollution "
In India there is best way to save trees,
Construct the road as wide as possible without cutting or damaging the trees.
The roots of trees damaged during excavation must be provided immediate care of survival.
If the road is planned as a 2-lane or 3-lane road, it will accommodate traffic in the future, and the old trees will also be saved.
We must expect in a democracy, that when public work is being carried out in the interest of the people, their opinions and concerns should be heard by the government.
If we can't do this then what happened ? I think this photographs can speak everything !!
If we remember forest fire in Australia !
24 people died
500 million animals died
8,000 koalas died
Over 5.5 million hectares burned
Trees are burned in this fire. This is the example that how nature destroys their own part.
I remember one poem about tree is like that :
A tree is like our mother,
whenever we play bestow its love and blessings on us.
It never let us fall,
as it treats as its own soul
It gives everything it can give
It provides us oxygen to live
fruits, vegetables to eat
Then why are we treating a tree in such a rude way
Why are we cutting trees like a hungry devil
It not only destroys our mother Earth but also,
Decreases our animals and humans life….
A tree that looks at god whole day
and join its leafy hand to pray that “save my life!”
we can save many lives by planting a single seed.
PLANT TODAY TO LIVE TOMORROW
There are also some organisations, groups, leaders, who can spread awareness in people. They doing work not for their personal benefits but only because to save the trees. In present time we see that Greta Thunberg is only 17 year old. She is an internationally known Swedish environmental activist who began her activism by missing school to protest what she perceives is the inaction and/or insufficient response of governments and the business sector to the United Nations Paris Agreement on climate change.
There are also some organizations that can make aware people about save trees, plant trees, and do not cut trees.
