Travelure
By Hugh & Colleen Gantzer
The year ahead promises to be very critical for the world in general and India in particular. The war in West Asia threatens to suck others into it. Indian Naval ships are patrolling those troubled waters and terrorist organisations might inflame the situation. But, apart from this, there are also possibilities of earth-shaking changes in our country.
We believe that after the G20 hosting and the landing of the Rover on the Moon, India is now primed to show the world that it is ready to lead the globe into unexplored pathways to the future. But we can do that only if we whole-heartedly embrace our diversity, because the world is not a monolith but is as diverse as India is.
TAPPING AYODHYA: The consecration of the Temple to Lord Ram has generated enormous interest. This must be used to launch scientific research into the belief enshrined in the world’s oldest continuous religion. Hinduism’s Itihas contains scientific concepts that pre-date Darwin and Einstein, including the Big Bang, the Space-Time Continuum and the fact that the universe continues to vibrate with gravitational waves making a low hum. In other words, the Universal sound of OM.
Unravelling Itihas could reveal an enormous reservoir of hidden knowledge.
SOLAR SATELLITE: The Sun is the primal source of energy for our earth. It is a giant furnace driven by atomic reactions. Sometimes these reactions go into overdrive causing destructive onslaughts of energy to race towards the earth. A natural radiation shield surrounding our planet rejects most of it. It still, however, interferes with satellite communication and might even cause aircraft to crash. Our solar satellite can give advance warning of such destructive flares. This orbiting early warning system is far more useful to the world than the Moon Rover.
THE FRENCH CONNECTION: Our Chief Guest on Republic Day will be French President Emmanuel Macron. We should use this occasion to widen and deepen our relations with France, the French language and the over 300 million French speaking people globally. When we were asked by the Paris Edition of The Reader’s Digest to write an article on Puducherry, we learnt that on 1st November, 1954, the 280 years of French rule came to an end. The four enclaves of Pondicherry, Yanam, Mahe and Karikal were de facto transferred to the Indian Union and became the Union Territory of Puducherry. We need to do much more to deepen and widen our relationship with French-speaking people and thereby extend the reach of India across the world.
THE MIRACLE OF AMUL: The Anand Milk Union Limited is controlled by 3.6 million milk producers. And AMUL reputedly processes around 30 million litres of milk per day, out of which it produces 25 milk-based products and l,975 others. These farm-based products include those generated from the collection of cow dung. It buys this animal waste from farmers, converts it into bio-gas and slurry: the residue after the gas has been generated. It uses the biogas for heating and it can also be used as an economical alternative to petrol, diesel, etc., thereby cutting down on the use of fossil fuel. The slurry that remains after the extraction of the biofuel is processed into eco-friendly fertiliser. This is then sold to farmers.
When our ancient ancestors exchanged their hunter-gatherer lifestyle for one of animal husbandry and agriculture, civilisation was born. The word civilisation was based on the word Civitas, which is a human settlement. But then humankind became exploitive and filled the earth with pollution. Amul uses the green techniques of civilisation to restore the balance of nature. Amul is, therefore, another Indian developed facility to green the planet, and to serve the future of mankind.
Amul’s all-encompassing approach to dairy farming is superb. It needs to be applied, adapted and adopted by all industries. This will reverse the waste generating economy that is the hallmark of the Global North’s Industrial Revolution. Today, India is perfectly poised to give the lead in the New Industrial Revolution.
But the question is, can our political parties forget their petty squabbles, set aside their ego massaging tamashas and put India first. That, really, is the only question.
(Hugh & Colleen Gantzer hold the National Lifetime Achievement Award for Tourism among other National and International awards. Their credits include over 52 halfhour documentaries on national TV under their joint names, 26 published books in 6 genres, and over 1,500 first-person articles, about every Indian state, UT and 34 other countries. Hugh was a Commander in the Indian Navy and the Judge Advocate, Southern Naval Command. Colleen is the only travel writer who was a member of the Travel Agents Association of India.) (The opinions and thoughts expressed here reflect only the authors’ views!).
Shambhu Kumar is a science communicator, making complex scientific topics accessible to all. His articles explore breakthroughs in various scientific disciplines, from space exploration to cutting-edge research.
