Home..

It is not often that we pause to think where we are. No, this is not going to be a session on philosophy; on the contrary on materialistic, "earthly" matters. To most of us our location in some corner of the vastness of space-time continuum is a 5 minute explanation we had during a physics session in school or at best the college. I have to ask someone a physicist by profession, astro-physics in particular, if atleast they get the opportunity and setting to be amased at and appreciate the fragility, by name the Earth, that we have managed to be in.

I am someone who argues "dont tell me we are the only ones Out There", or "maybe not with two hands, two legs, one head, but there must definitely be little green/grey men". Inspite of that, what we have here doesnt fade even a bit if we just manage to get the complete picture in front of us. How we began, more interestingly how the Earth began, how long have we humans been around, what was it like before we came along, how have things changed, and most importantly where are we (all life) headed - these are questions that hardly a handful stop to look at, let alone those who persist to find the answers to, not to bother about those that try do something about it.

I recently (i.e. 5 minutes ago) watched this movie "Home" (watch it here on Youtube), forwarded by my friend S.S. I was hesitant at the start, for it is not the short movie types; this lasts for a little over 90 minutes. But more than one reason caught my attention. It is a movie narrated by (Mother) Earth about how she started off, who came along when, how her face has been changed, what her fears are and where she is afraid "we" are headed. She is afraid for the species she hosts and not about herself. It is such an interesting perspective - imagine a guest staying at your place for a few days, starts turning things into chaos, your house and life become increasingly miserable everyday. But at the end of the day you (the owner of the house) stop to tell the guest that the damage is more to their self than to the house. Such magnanimity is unimaginable today. But isnt that whats happening? Just because earth cannot speak we molest it with utterly no thought for what a beautiful marvel we are making a mockery of, without sparing a thought for either the earth itself or the people to come after us.

I am not going to write a review for the movie here. It is worth every moment of those 90 odd minutes you spend, on many different levels. On trivialities: the voice, BGM, narration, pace of story telling, simplicity - they seem to be in perfect amounts like the best meal you've ever had. Not to mention the picturisation where every frame in the movie is a potential wallpaper (in your room or on the computer) - this is no exaggeration, trust me! You definitely would not have seen our place like this. I spent half the time wondering if it was CGI or a real filming of the insanely peaceful, romantic, stunning planet we life in. What the hell have I been doing in all the places I have been to, when those shown in the movie completely beats even the view from the top of the Eiffel Tower left-right-top-bottom-centre!?

The movie sadly describes how we have managed to almost-irrepairably damage the ecosystem, resources and climate given that we are just 200 million years old as against the 4 billion years that earth has been around. As the line goes in The Matrix, are humans really the plague of this world? It seems we have played that role to perfection till now. And make no mistake we still continue to and are getting better at it. From forests to rivers to glaciers to water to land to animals to coral reefs to everything we can find on this planet, we have managed to bring them to the brink of extiction within the 200 million years that we've been around. The "sweetest" parts is that we are next in line. "Take that you b@st@rds" is what you'd expect the earth to say to us. I wouldnt blame it.

The best part of the movie was the last 5-10 minutes though. The entire story until that moment makes you queasy, want to quit your job and take up eco-saving-professions, become politicians, and even give up saying there is no hope anymore and the damage is done. But it is that last 10 minutes that turns things around for you. It beautifully portrays how much good still remains. How much of the adorable, precious, worthy things in this earth remains to be saved. All is not lost is the message. We still have time to turn back and restore our Home to the glory that we can selflessly smile at and have a proud tear in our eye for. Each one can find a way to contribute. It is as simple as saying no to plastics (and all the other "cliched"stuff) to as difficult as giving up meat eating. I personally have nothing against meat eaters, but after seeing what the capitalists spend on the meat industry, I believe vegetarianism has been there for a social and economic cause than just religious or animal-welfare reasons.

The movie doesnt leave you with questions. It leaves you with questions And the simplest of answers. It is definitely in our hands to do the least, which will have an impact that we can hardly fathom. It is simply a matter of what we do (or dont do). Watch it in silence, and you will leave it in silence.