CNN Central News & Network-ITDC India Epress/ITDC News Bhopal: Prakriti Utsav ’26 is not merely an event, but an effort to revive the Indian idea in which environmental protection is a confluence of a way of life, spirituality and social responsibility.
Veerji
Green Life Coach, environmentalist and national flag bearer, Harit Veer Vahini
Climate change is no longer a fear of the future. It has become an experience of our present. In some places, the pattern of rainfall is changing; elsewhere, the availability of water is causing concern. In some areas, growing pressure on land and greenery is visible, while in others, our own lifestyle is becoming a challenge to the balance of nature.
But the most important question of the climate crisis is not only how much the Earth’s temperature is rising. An even bigger question is the direction in which the relationship between human beings and nature is moving.
For a long time, we treated nature as a resource. Perhaps it is now time to again regard it as a teacher.
This is the core spirit of Prakriti Utsav ’26:
Inspired by Nature. For Climate. For Our Future.
That means drawing inspiration from nature, acting now for the climate, and leaving a liveable Earth for future generations.
Nature is not only something to be protected; it is a system to learn from.
A forest teaches us something remarkable.
No single tree makes a forest. Soil, roots, microorganisms, water, birds, insects, plants and countless living beings together create a system in which every component is connected to another.
Wetlands teach us that nature does not merely let water flow; it also holds, stores and balances it.
Healthy soil tells us that life which is not even visible to our eyes often forms the foundation of the entire ecosystem.
In nature, real sustainability is not born out of isolation. It is born out of co-existence.
This is the lesson modern society needs to understand again.
Climate solutions will not come only from large plants, technologies or government schemes. They will become sustainable when the principles of balance, diversity, regeneration and participation learned from nature enter our social systems.
The word “now” is the most important.
The message associated with Prakriti Utsav ’26, #NowforClimate, is not just the title of a campaign.
Its most important word is “Now”.
We are deeply concerned about the environment, but our concern often remains in the future tense.
“Something should be done.”
“The government should do it.”
“The new generation should become aware.”
“A campaign should be run at a larger level someday.”
But the climate crisis is teaching us a different language:
What am I doing today?
Have I cared for the sapling I planted until it became a tree?
Do I save water?
Has unnecessary waste been reduced in my home, institution or workplace?
Have I played a personal role in protecting any natural area, tree, water source or biodiversity?
Have I merely given a child an Environment Day speech, or have I also taught the child to build a relationship with nature?
Environmental responsibility becomes real only when it moves out of calendar dates and enters daily conduct.
Climate solutions also begin with individuals.
One major mental mistake we make is that we consider the climate problem so enormous that an individual begins to feel almost irrelevant.
A person thinks: what difference can one plant, one bucket of water or a little less waste possibly make?
But the real power of any social change lies not in numbers, but in the spread of behaviour.
One person plants a tree.
Another is inspired by seeing it.
One school starts water conservation with children.
One neighbourhood adopts responsibility for waste.
One institution develops greenery on its land.
One family rethinks its patterns of consumption.
When these small actions become the culture of a community, major change becomes possible.
We see this thinking in the spirit of Green Donor Climate Solution – a citizen who does not only take from nature, but gives back to nature.
Contributions made to nature should also be recorded.
A great deal of work in the environmental field remains unseen.
Someone cares for trees for years, someone contributes to water conservation, someone greens land, someone makes children aware of nature – but that environmental contribution is not systematically recorded anywhere.
In this background, the concept of Green Donor Carbon Bank Credits becomes important.
Its basic idea is simple:
Real work done for nature is a kind of green deposit.
If an environmental activity is real, documented, and can be verified through a systematic process, that contribution should receive recognition.
Tree plantation, protection of trees, water conservation, land greening, waste reduction, environmental awareness and other sustainable activities should not remain merely “good deeds”. They should also become evidence of the green contribution of individuals and communities.
The most important purpose of such a system is not to award points, but to give continuity to responsible civic behaviour.
Spirituality and the environment are not separate.
The organisation of Prakriti Utsav ’26 on the occasion of Shri Krishna Janmashtami also carries a deep Indian cultural message.
If we look at the memory of Shri Krishna in Indian folk and cultural traditions, it includes forests, the Yamuna, cattle, birds, Govardhan and the natural world of rural life.
In our tradition, nature has never been merely a physical environment. It has been linked with life, compassion and sanctity.
But spirituality cannot mean only worshipping nature.
If we call a river our mother, we also carry the responsibility of protecting it from pollution.
If we regard a tree as sacred, protecting it is an equally sacred responsibility.
If the Earth is Mother, then the erosion of its soil is not only a scientific problem, but also a moral question.
This is where spirituality and environmental responsibility meet.
Prayer will be complete only when it turns into protection.
Gratitude will be complete only when it turns into service.
And love for nature will be complete only when it becomes a responsible way of life.
Our silent agreement with future generations
We, the people of the present generation, are not the owners of the Earth.
We are its custodians for a limited time.
The child who comes after us will not be able to ask us which policies we read or how many environmental conferences we watched.
That child will breathe the air we leave behind.
Drink the water we leave behind.
Grow food on the soil we preserved or destroyed.
See the forests that survived through our protection or our neglect.
This is the real meaning of For Our Future.
Perhaps the simplest meaning of climate justice is that we give space in our decisions to the interests of the generation whose voice cannot be heard today.
We will have to move beyond events.
The success of any environmental event should not be determined by the number of people present.
The real question is:
How many lives changed after that programme?
How many people took responsibility for a tree?
How many saved water?
How many institutions greened their campuses?
How many children were genuinely connected with nature?
How many environmental activities were documented and sustained?
If an event ends only on the stage, it will remain a memory.
If the same event enters people’s behaviour, it can become a movement.
We are all indebted to nature.
Almost every basic need of human life comes from nature.
Air, water, food, soil, medicine and the biological systems essential for life – all have been given to us.
The question should no longer be what nature has given us.
The question should be:
What have we returned to nature?
This is the essence of the Green Donor spirit.
Every person can become a donor to nature according to their capacity.
Someone who has land can increase greenery.
Someone who has time can care for trees.
Someone who has knowledge can make people aware.
Someone who has an institution can bring the community together.
And someone who has only the will – that alone is enough to begin change.
Prakriti Utsav ’26 is an invitation in this direction.
Learn from nature.
Act now for the climate.
And leave the Earth a little better for future generations.
Because perhaps the most humane solution to the climate crisis is this: instead of seeing nature as a problem, we must once again regard it as our family.
Hashtags: #EnvironmentAgriculture #Bhopal #PrakritiUtsav26 #NowforClimate #GreenDonor #ClimateAction #Environment #Agriculture #ClimateChange #NatureConservation
