Meet Krishna
By Krishna Karthikeyan.
Growing up in singara (beautiful) Chennai in India, rainy days were always my favourite kind of day.
The smell of the earth as rain clouds approached, and the calming sight of coconut trees dancing in the wind are some of my most cherished memories.
I remember kicking a deflated football around with my brother under magnificent mango trees and running outside every morning to collect freshly blossomed hibiscus flowers for our grandmother.
Collecting ripening mangoes had become an exciting sport for my friends and me.
First, we’d scout the tree for the lowest hanging fruit, then it was time to put our throwing skills to the test.
Taking aim, we’d mark the juiciest mangoes we could find and throw stones at our targets until they were knocked to the ground for our collection.
Sadly, in 2015, a flood shattered my home town and took with it a piece of my fondest childhood memory.
Just 13 at the time, I remember having to stay home from school that day due to road safety concerns.
The elation of school being cancelled soon waned when I watched from my balcony with growing concern as the heavy rainfall destroyed all in its path.
Unforgiving winds howled across our neighbourhood and crushed the frail hibiscus tree we had cherished for so many years and that my grandmother relied on for her morning pooja (worship).
The next morning, I woke to find our beloved mango tree was stripped of its once strong and sturdy branches.
Those branches did not get a chance to grow back before cyclone Vardah arrived a year later.
As we had done the previous year, my family stocked up on food and water to last us a few days just in case it wasn’t safe to leave our home.
Winds reached 110kmph, and we would only have electricity every couple of days.
Those of us in the apartment building where we lived would find ways to support each other.
Neighbours would exchange milk, bread, rice and dosa batter in the staircases, meeting in-between floors and avoiding opening their doors as much as possible to protect their homes from wind and rainwater.
I remember walking up the stairs to my friend’s home, with my feet soaking wet in the puddles of water that had come in through broken windows.
The staircase had become our only source of connection and exercise, since the elevators stopped working.
It wasn’t safe to drive in the flash floods, or in the strong winds as heavy objects could fall onto the road at any time – so we stayed home.
I remember one morning my friend and I were staring out the window at our flooded football field, wondering when we’d be allowed to go outside and play again.
There was low visibility because of the clouds and the relentless rain, and as we inched closer to get a better look, the glass started to vibrate in the wind.
Startled we jumped back from the windowpane just seconds before it shattered, landing on our feet.
Several lives were lost, and over 18,000 trees had fallen during that cyclone.
The next flood was in 2021, and I watched as the carefully replanted trees from cyclone Vardah, were snapped in half.
I kept wondering about the ‘how and why’ of these wicked events every time we lost a tree to the wind.
It is now 2023, and I have had the privilege of learning about the causes and impacts of climate change – the ‘how and why’.
Education is key to empowering individuals and communities to become agents of change in combatting the climate crisis.
Planet Positive presents us with that opportunity, encouraging us to think beyond our careers and consider how we can make a positive impact on the world.
It challenges the idea that only environmental scientists can fight this global challenge, highlighting that it is a multidisciplinary issue that requires everyone within society to take responsibility and work towards progressing change.
It will provide students with the knowledge, tools, skills and networks which can be used to tackle climate change head on, regardless of their discipline.
Ultimately, Planet Positive represents hope for a better future, one in which sustainability and social responsibility are at the forefront of our minds.’
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