Small strides for big change

December 8 was one of the coldest days of 2009. There I was standing along with 100 school students at the entrance to the residence of Sharad Pawar, the Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Government of India, overwhelmed with mixed emotions. The positive energy and enthusiasm was contagious. Had our generation taken the ownership, the condition wouldn't have turned as bad as it is today...but still there is hope.

Standing shoulder to shoulder with the future of this country, the school children for the Door to Door Advocacy Programme on Climate Change for Parliamentarians (in partnership with CLRA), I was witness to the historic event of the baton being passed to the next generation. As Roger Lewin rightly says, "Too often we give our children answers to remember rather than problems to solve"; it was here that children were given the most important task. The implications of which are going to decide- will there be a future for the next generation or NOT??

Mr. Pawar flagged off the door to door advocacy programme on climate change for Parliamentarians at 8.30 am. The awareness campaign was to create and enhance awareness of parliamentarians on the issues of climate change, and encourage support for climate change mitigation and adaptation policies in government and facilitate greater engagement in climate change related issues amongst Parliamentarians in the long term.

Students travelled between parliamentarians' homes to meet with the Members of Parliament (MPs) and their families to relay the need to combat carbon emissions and address climate change at a personal level. They also handed out advisory material, including a 12 step flyer outlining the ways parliamentarians can reduce carbon emissions in their personal and professional lives, and offering verbal information on climate change issues that can be addressed on an individual basis

Here is a lesson for all of us- "Speak today or there will be no tomorrow"