Soliloquy with the Omnipresent

By Sreeja Rachaveelpula,(Third Prize Winner at the Nature's Eye Blog Writing Contest)

You come in all colours, shapes and sizes! You are found on all land types, be it tropical forest,

rain forest, dry deciduous, mangroves, grasslands or alpines. You can crawl on land with the aid

of wind, you can float on seas and also go deep down the waters. You are found even in the

deepest marina trench. You can see be seen flying in the air. Your numbers are not merely in 100s

or 1000s but reaches infinity. Your lifetime is longer than many creatures on this earth. Recent

studies have shown you are found in our bodies too. You have taken lives of many innocent ones.

You have swum across the oceans and conquered the continents. You tricked the sea creatures to be their prey. You have even trekked Mount Everest and most mountains in the world. You co-

exist with humans, some love you, some hate you, but life is unavoidable without you. You have

conquered the world so young and ruling for so long. You, the mighty plastic.

O dear plastic! It's hard to decide whether you are a friend or a foe, a boon or a bane? Bewildered

by your gifts and kicks, it's a mammoth task to come to a conclusion. When you were invited to

our human world, praises rained over you, and your triumph of saving the environment was

broadcasted throughout the world. The present-day scenario has flipped the coin. You listen to

the curses from many, rallies and campaigns about demolition of your kingdom, to degrade you

till your identity is lost. In the past, there were only gyres of ocean current but in today's world you

have created a gyre of your own in the central North Pacific Ocean and we the benevolent humans have named you there as the 'Great Pacific garbage patch'. Nevertheless, you always have your fan following, who will never let you die.

An article "Design and modelling of an electrochemical device producing methane/oxygen and

polyethylene from in- situ resources on Mars" by Dr. Jeffery B. Greenblatt has discussed your

rebirth in another planet (thankfully our own galaxy) by exploiting its resources. The damage you

have done to the blue planet dimmed away, as I time travelled to witness the labour pains of the

red planet to give birth to you.

I am no one to judge you and make you a villain. You do some good to my own species that I

can't deny, but what about the rest of the millions of species whose lives are being laid at the altar

of the death. I blame not you for your presence, but my own species for their cruel ignorance. I

wish there could be a 'happily ever after' end to this menace as in all Disney movies, where one

fine day man realises the difference between need and greed.

- Sreeja Rachaveelpula (srija238@gmail.com)