Teaching

I went through a few blogs today - some that I am following and others too, and I find that people are really wonderful. Wherever we are, whether in New Zealand, Australia or the US, there are generous and kind people who help others and always willing to share, whether it is advice or skills. I have always marvelled at this quirk of human nature - it's what makes us humans - humane. Last night I watched the earthquake survivors in Chile and thought about the looting and shooting that's going on in some of the areas, and thought that maybe we humans deserve to be tested in that way. But then again I see wonderful acts of mercy and charity, not just for the people in Chile, but also in Haiti and thought again - no, no one deserves to be tested in that way. But I can't help thinking about the many natural diasasters that keep coming - every year there is one or two that takes a heavy toll on human lives and I wonder. What have we done to nature to make it so mad? Or rather what have we NOT done?

And this brought me to what have been said by many of our poets - even as far back as the 19th century when Wordsworth said -

"The world is too much with us; late and soon,

  Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;

   Little we see in nature that is ours;

   We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!

This scene that bares our bosom to the moon;

The wind that is howling at all hours,

and are up gathered like sleeping flowers;

For this, for everything, we are out of tune,

It moves us not."

Man is out of tune with nature - all that polluting, destruction of trees and animals, wanton killings of wild creatures - "it moves us not" and because of this I feel Nature is now rising against us with terrible hurricanes, earthquakes, global warming and so on.

Yesterday one of my students gave a beautiful presentation that almost moved me to tears - it was only the thought of crying in front of a crowd of girls that prevented me from giving in to my emotions. She was teaching Cecil Rajendra's poem - Death of a rainforest  and used Michael Jackson's Earth song  as an introduction and it was really efective. Cecil Rajendra, one of Malaysia's poets says it all in his poem "Death of a Rainforest" and the feelings of pain, helplessness and frustration echo in many other works by other poets.