Development

As a hydrographer I used to render voluminous reports at the end of a survey. I remember we had a paragraph for reporting such things as the sighting of whales or turtles. Sometimes I would insert a small paragraph which would go something like:

“This remote beach is frequented by turtles. On a particular dark moonless night thousands of them small ones crack open their eggs and scramble over the sands into the warm sea. It happens before their predators realize.”

Consider a world where there are golden beaches with beautiful patterns created by the waves. You can bend down, take a fistful of sand and feel the clean grains streaming out of your fingers.

If you lift your gaze you can see the azure sky afar, where it meets the sea at the horizon. The world looks like an impossible painting done by a child using bold colours.

You cannot detect any movement or sign of life. But you know there’s a vibrant world hidden within.

On the other side tall brown tree torsos rise vertically straight up. On top of this red and brown mesh is thick green foliage. If you look carefully you might notice a sudden rustle of the branches betraying the presence of an exotic tropical bird. The rain forest doesn’t allow prying eyes to peep into its world.

In this vivid gold, green, blue and red universe there is no sign of man. Not yet. The weather is gentle. As you walk on the sands your footprints are etched forever. Till the next wave come and wipes away the stain.

You know you are privileged to share the beach with the olive ridley and leatherback turtles. They don’t come too often. Sometimes after a stormy night you will find them frolicking on the sea with the dolphins, having re-claimed the waves.

Once I gazed at them from a helicopter hovering vertically above them. From up there they looked like a big swarm of bedbugs. Thousands of them all headed towards a particular direction. They have been playing this game for centuries. Maybe millennia. The next few years are going to be tough. Their idyllic world is threatened by development.

Close by a modern port is coming up. The constructions for which will destroy their habitat forever. It will bring a lot of wealth to a handful few and prosperity in this region. So what if some turtles die.

“Can’t they go somewhere else? I’m sure they will find themselves another place to breed and frolic. Anyway it’s not that important. A few dead turtles won’t shake up this earth. After all you can’t stop development. We’ve to make our fortunes and spend it before we grow old and die.”