The Cat, The Whale and The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Childrens Literature Spotlight and Remembering Eric Carle.

Mysterious, scary, exciting, nail biting, keeping us on the edge of our seats, No. Not the zombie horror movies that might be your guilty pleasure, I am referring to children's fairy tales as if happening in a different era, on a far away land, infused with magic, mystery and suspense.

As the fable enchants us and we are lost in the alter world. 'Once upon a time there was a.....'  

OK Calm down! Calm down and Come back from your trippy dream!

It can be cats and whales too why just Cinderellas and their slippers always, and beasts and beauties and castles and cavaliers and what not.. 

Cats and Whales. Really? I came across a fun language book for kids by Boris Zakhoder. His characters are so relatable, yet hilarious just like Oinky the Pig from 'How a piglet crashed a Christmas Party.' Do you know what did Oinky do on the Christmas Day? He disguised as a Boy and reached the party. Later, Garbed and spectacled, Oinky wasn't even detected until...

Oinky made a Pig out of himself! haha!

Have you heard about Kit and Kyt story? Kit in ukrainian is Cat and kyt is whale. What if we ask

“Hey what if Whales and Cats switched places for no reason? ”

Though in English it sounds nothing fancy but you can still shoot the questions.

 I often wonder, what if someone who grew up in Russia. Are they afraid of Cats, as Cats are hominem with Whales? Lol.

Even French children book have a similar concept around cats known as "My cat the stupidest in the world" and it's about all the stupid things the cat is capable of: make things fall, jump on people... Let me tell you, this "cat" isn't cat per se...

It's actually an Elephant!

How different the world could have been if we could change just one letter, as in can't and didn't. There would have been more apostrophes, because

"Hey! cool cats.. we are standing on a brink of cat-aclysmic cat-astrophe."

Imagine global trade would never have happened if there were enormous seafaring cats out there or the newspaper headlines today would read 'gigantic enormous oceanic cat are a new rage to sea surfers and sailors.' Haha!

Coming to creatures in oceans, I remember Bong Joon Ho's blockbuster (yeah, long before Parasite won Oscars. If you haven't yet watched just go, run, and watch it) .... The Host.

Good Lord! It scared me to death when I watched it first. The creature was definitely horrifying, looked surreal and wrecked havoc on the island and it's inhabitants but Government least affected by the lives lost was busy projecting their PR image and vote grabbing tactics. In between, if people die do they care at all? Naah! Blame it all on the foreign country!

Outsiders are alienated and shrugged off by the Government by demonising them, while not revisiting their own hypocrisy, instead citizens are left to fend for their lives and treated as fodder for the monster, to be eliminated once and for all.

The Host has shown, how...

Governments dictate not only politics but media, art, science, literature and every other aspect of our lives controlling, their own image in public and the first person narratives which are evidence that might be helpful in getting justice if they survive the death galore, whichever suits their best interests first.

Sounds too familiar. Right?

Burning pyres, Corona virus and the Indian government best at what they do, hiding the death numbers, while propagating their 'goodwill' on media channels which act as government mouth piece during elections but since last two terms it's forever an election campaign season going on since last seven years.

During WWII in Germany, Abstract and expressionist art were verboten. All art was forced to support a propaganda.. a regime's message, devoid of free minds, free hearts and thinking. 

Inspite of that, there were wonderful scholars and scientists working, keeping themselves low key and there were teachers who secretly showed their students,"the works of so-called degenerate artists." as recounted by Eric Carle, the very famous Children's Author.

When childhood is filled with light and hope, while walking through nature, holding their parents's hand, listening stories of forest fairies, of ugly toads, glowing fireflies, noisy cicadas and ever wandering grasshoppers.. and of green lions, pink rabbits, purple foxes and polka-dot donkeys, it's a piece of art that children carry throughout their lives, inherited through time.

Like a hungry caterpillar who had eclectic appetite and who pops from his egg and eats through rows of fruit and cake and ice cream, even pickles, Swiss cheese and salami until it find it's way to becoming a vibrant butterfly, caterpillar who had one apple but was hungry again, had two pears and still hungry, Children too learn to have a hunger for knowing things, for questioning, for growth, eventually becoming healthy individuals, ready to face the world with powerful yet inquisitive minds. 

It was Eric Carle's father who introduced him to the natural world. As a small child Carle's father would take him by the hand, out into the nature and would show him worms and bugs and bees and ants and explain their lives to him. His stories are tribute to his father who gifted him a world full of wildlife. The lives of animals then became transformational stories,  a love for nature that later infused his work.

His paintbrush had an extraordinary flare to write and make the world better. Enormous thing or the tiniest ones both are now within the grasp of each and every one of us.

 Take pain and become joy, take suffering and become learning, take rage and become the kind of love that makes children smile, in our own little ways, we all get to come home.and be the children we always were. 

Carle was born June 25, 1929, in Syracuse, New York. His parents were German immigrants, he was six when they returned to their native Stuttgart, where Carle grew up under Nazi regime, witnessing horrors of World War II, digging trenches at age 15. 

“During the war, there were no colors,” Everything was gray and brown.… Houses were camouflaged with grays and greens and brown. 

Thanks to his  high school teacher, Herr Kraus, who introduced him to Modern art, secretly showing Carle, works by German Expressionists, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Paul Klee, and other artists who were declined and deemed degenerate by Nazis.

Speaking of cats, One of his last books was 2015′s The Nonsense Show, which centered on a parade of flying fish, cat-taming mice and circus animals. 

When one of our great creators dies, we might comfort ourselves by saying, ‘At least we still have their books.’ In the case of Eric, we still have his museum—which exists because of Eric’s lifetime of generosity.”

Unfettered joy that he has brought to so many children he had shown that the art can be a perfect reflection, a way you see the world  Aware that other countries too had museums that honored children’s book artists, Eric decided to create such a museum in United States. He will be missed, but his spirit and his love for living creatures, big and small, will live on through his books, his art and his museum for generations to come. 

With his passing, the world has lost not only an artist but a beautiful human being, according to a delightful story shared by writer Lara B. Sharp, about how a stranger helped her over the phone and he kept searching for the cat and even listened to her, while she sobbed for her lost kittie, which was later found near an Italian restaurant. When the writer called up the stranger to thank for his support, he asked her to meet the lucky cat Shmoop, and he came over, to her home. 

After he met Shmoop, as he was leaving, he handed her an envelope... Inside was a beautiful book, called 'Have You Seen My Cat', signed by a familiar name, non other than, the famous author Eric Carle.

The revelation was shocking and embarrassing that she never phoned him again out of shyness. 

To be treated like a daughter, when She never had a father, by such a loving person, who cared about her and and searched endlessly for her kitty, whom she loved so dearly, meant everything to her and she struggled to express, what all she felt that time...

 Years later, when Shmoop passed away, the writer cremated Schmoop with an Eric Carle postcard of 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'. The story was so precious and deeply personal that she kept it to herself. 

But.. She shared it the day Eric passed away, because of love, admiration and respect she had for him, she would never ever forget him. The most cherished moments for her was those five whole days, when she had the world's greatest dad ever. 

Her mind knew well that Eric had gone but her heart and eyes still longed to see him again as she asked - 

'Have You Seen My Eric Carle?'

It was hard, not to shed a single tear to witness immense kindness of an individual with a heart, so tender that it aches seeing pain of a fellow being. It's a story that gives us a glimpse into humane character of a person, known to other as a well regarded children's author. What a lovely, moving and heart touching tribute it is.

 

What a life he lived and what a legacy he's leaving behind that will make him immortal in the hearts of millions of kids and their parents who've ever read him. Oh Eric...

In the moon lit sky, among the brightest stars, an illusionist of dreams and vivid imagination, travels across the horizon, leaving a trail of thousand little rainbows, like a forever hungry caterpillar. 

Women Protests, Emojis, #MeToo and the Witches.

Do random emojis scare you? Yes, the same emoji that float in your chats and messaging apps. From ripe Sunlit bananas to apples of the north, from luscious peaches to glistening brinjals, now emojis are enough to get you accused of fueling "anti-feminism" 

Reason? Infantile headlines in news blaming women, who were protesting for their rights, of causing insecurities in Korean men. Looks like these ladies have mastered the art of choosing best ways for warning the perpetrators loud and clear, emojis that puncture right at the heart of misogyny. 

To retaliate that women are body-shaming, men are giving outrageous retaliation to age old revolutionary retaliation of women against gender violence. Men ultimately provide the evidence of their existing sexism and revealing a pointless vicious cycle. 

Since the past, societies loved blaming women for mens political views or controversial populist achiever acts gone wrong moments, even for the wealthy male ie. celebrity cum politicians cum pretending-to-be-wife lovers, for every Trump there is a Millenia, for every Tharoor there was a Sunanda(she's no more now) and for all the maverick charlatan like Boris there is a Carrie-Antoinette, I'm as sure as first lady's sustainability rented wedding dress (who unapologetically subscribes to expensive furnishings, while loving to take long-haul air travel vital for Caribbean sun.)

So, is it the silly emoji who did it or it's the scapegoat culture sustained due to pervasive patriarchy? Men can go to any length for solidifying their position in higher cohorts even if they look like a buffoon. Boris and Carrie 'carried' their toddler for G7 meet but they're facing alligations for reduced the son to a 'prop' or a 'distraction' for the world leaders at the summit in Cornwall, an act of 'Diaper Diplomacy' So if it goes well, kudos for Boris and if it goes sour with public, blame it on the Carries, not on emojis! By the way, the dress which she worn for the first meeting was an identifiable piece from society favourite, the 'Vampire’s Wife' Coincidently, she was seen in pink Luella 'Ghost' dress as Johnson made his first speech as PM in July, 2019. Creative names indeed, I'll rather believe the first one!

As far as body shaming is concerned, in the wake of G7 meet, It’s been 13 years since Angela Merkel wore a low-cut dress, causing a furore and since then, she’s never again shown even a hint of cleavage in public, to avoid history repeating itself in tabloids and men taking a dig at her with the “weapons of mass distraction” headlines of 2008 while men hyperventilating over a teenie weenie emoji in 2021. Scaling new heights! 

It's hilarious how males are in, what it seems to be a Shakespearen melancholy, over a small yet powerful gesture, still I am not hearing these men coming up with potential solutions or advice to tackle gender inequity, discrimination and harassment in the workforce there? Strange ehh? 

Men are afraid, how a woman dares to laugh at them. Oh! How can she? Why does she need to? Don't she remember how he slapped her hard? Has she forgotten how her mother was treated by her father. How dare she laugh even when her soul is crushed under the weight of her dead ambitions? Shh! Shh! Little girl, how dare you laugh?? 

Men rant about being objectified by a mere emoji - a symbol that hit right at the pettiness in their mentalities and fragile egoes. Since, centuries women were threatened at gunpoints, gagged and raped, subjugated to violence in homes and relationships but the pervasive silence of the bystanders and audacity of the perpetrators was never questioned. Why? 

They can't see a woman standing for herself, standing for other women was straight out of question. Then what turned the wheel? Women standing for fellow women, singing, protesting, holding hands in hands, with eyes brimming with pain of ages and hearts worn on their sleeves they stood! Women stood up after years of being frightened, that the same men who can be someone's son or brother too, but will rape us, kill us and leaves us stranded on an empty street. 

Disparity much? When women were being illegally filmed by hidden webcams for revenge porn,where were the woke men? While in India, Delhi got rebranded from Rape Capitol to Death Capitol due to burning pyres in mass burials due to Covid, Japan still failed to apologise for the innocent women who lost lives and suffered during the World War as Comfort women, South Korean men continue to be one of the major source of demand for child sex tourism in Southeast Asia/Pacific Islands and child sex abuse/pornography websites. 

Moreover, did they ever question hosting club culture in cities that hold night parties and force teenage girls to serve adults? Did they question the hyper sexualization of young girls in kpop which serves the fantasies of middle aged perverts. In Asian countries, it's often found that women and young girls, especially school going children are treated as subjects for sexual perversion. They are repeatedly molested, cat called, followed and dragged for sexual favours. On the other hand, these 'nice men' invented "family loyalty" trope, a dog whistle to subjugate women and keep them as cheap labour. 

Men AFRAID of the WORD feminism seem to be inherent bigots. All they've attempted is to keep women in control and condition them to be a slave to their desires while lecturing them on how her needs shouldn't exceed her duties - to him, his family, his friends, his relatives, his workplace. half of the human population, the women were kept to do their bidding free of charges and be their scapegoats whenever they are out of expiry like a commodity. 

You might be aware of these cultured men who tout, womens' risen voices as Radical feminism gone out of control. Firstly, what's radical about it? Secondly, if the use of protest symbols, in this case a small emoji, constitutes feminism being "out of control", then it's clear as water, why there's a movement happening at all.

If you ever wish to know who abused the power all these years, just stress your nerve cells, a little hard and look, against whom you are barred to speak, against whom you can't point out a finger and it's who, that thinks they are some sort of divine unquestionable entity. In fact they are nothing but a piece of trash!! 

Last time when we heard of a global trash, it was Charles, who used a woman, Camilla to target no other than his own wife Diana, and that alone, got her chased and murdered, while she gasped for last bits of her life. That was a global tragedy but no different than what women kept on facing on a daily basis, just that it is much worst for a common woman. 

And, here we are, seeing men claiming that they've never insulted women's bodies! Touche! Misogyny, took a horrifying turn in Asia and that too, quite long back. I once heard a man among relatives, advising my cousin to loose her weight, specially 'near her waist' else????  "No man will ever look at you" those were his exact words. 

 It's hard.. really hard.. for being a women.. an asian woman.. in a society where exploitation was normalised in every forms and women were told. "Accept it! It is for your own benefit. Just don't ask too many questions." 

Now! Women stood up, smashing the inhumane patriarchal setup and those who benefitted the most, are getting the taste of their own medicine!

Thanks to all the women and also those men who've supported women, even asking random men on social media,  'Are Men So Fragile?' If yes, then the 'Size Does Matter After All.' Size.. of their egoes.. not of their chests boasting their bigotry. The patriarchy has been mocking women's bodies and their shapes of breasts and hips, forever, whether women have or not, what we smell like or what we feel like. So spare me all the faux male outrage now.

I spent my entire teen life being told to be too thin or doubting if I am too fat or am I too short, am I in the right clothes, If my skin is not too revealed, If my clothes are not too tight on the body parts, If I am garnering too much attention (of uncles in the neighbourhood) due my fitted clothes, If I look pretty or not or should I smile little more to look prettier enough, irrespective of the fact that I was one of the office bearer at my school, I danced, I sang, I wrote speeches, I won debates, I as editor of University Literary magazine, I as an Executive Council member at a National University but being myself was never enough.

Our bodies and existence are never 'enough'.

But they can't take it? They just cannot stop their hate. Framing the entire women's movement as an act of "anti-feminism" or "anti-equality" seems just as misogynistic. Buckle Up all you Buttercups! Women have had it enough! 

People with 'little' self worth always seem to have the 'biggest' mouth! You can't always drown the truth and women's narratives with your loud and empty threats. At least this is what you'll have to learn and accept and lawfully abide that, Women's Rights Are Human Rights. 

Honestly, the women led Korean movement is just killing me softly with songs of revolution. I sincerely hope these women succeed in there mission. Considering the ages old system oppression, I'm glad that the ladies are rightfully questioning the men for their failures and the women must keep the vigil high until the disparities are completely addressed. Even if you are called names or branded witchy, do not back down and hang in there, sisters. 

On a happy note, I'll leave you all with last year's Portland Oregon's Standup Paddleboard Witch Paddling event! Can you spot Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax in Full traditional Welsh attire? Look like a typical Saturday night where folks hangout with their homies. I heard someone saying you have to break egg shells "so witches can't use them for boats". Anyways, Witches and Warlocks really had a great time with their coven and now I'm reminded of the rushed or unsatisfactory ending of Chilling adventures of Sabrina but that's the story for another day.

Reminiscence of the past and it's chronicles.

 

Oasis of lime-washed walls 

hues of indigo blue in the middle 

of chaos, clamour of old capital

a courtyard stands firmly

embodying ballads of intricate past 

twinkles from anklet of maiden's feet

vestiges of erstwhile kingdom, drowned 

in cacophony of busy streets 

people on roads, emerging cities

 and night life, whispers into air

 someday in future, infested

 political structures will decay

flowers of culture and glorious

 past will bloom in cradle of ruins

 until then a wanderer

 lits the lamps

 in name of lost ones

 keeps it burning

 till the break of dawn. 

#wordlesswednesday #wednesdaywisdom #lyricalpoetry 

#bhavanavarunwrites #callofthepast #womenwriters

Travelling in Post Pandemic Era — Past, Present and Future.

Enlightenment, eat the rich vs. posh vacationing, best destinations to visit, how rich escaped during crisis, soaring flight rates, covid celebrities, rising inequality, climate change and sustainable tourism.

As borders reopen and lockdown eases in some countries after months of restrictions, travellers who long started planning to escape from the grim realities, have started heading out for impromptu short trips or Wellness vacation or Work vacation. Outfits selected, scarves and sarongs chosen, dresses and shoes packed, sunscreen and lotions zipped in a pouch, summer hats ordered from online stores and yes, winding up reports and thesis presentations, folks are sorting out their visas. Why not? Globetrotting was a buzzword back then, getting travelling bug bites was the norm.

So, after getting back to the normal, why must boho chiques not hop into the bandwagon again? Even the insta feeds and youtube shorts depict the angst of the pandemic, craving for the attention they long had. Travelling was never about a personal enlightening experience for the self declared foodies and travel aficionados. Its a market of 'I have it and you don't, honestly I don't give a damn about you, just follow me, you sidekicks.'

For some not so lucky but who still wish to travel after pandemic, on shoestring budget, this will burn a deep hole in their pockets. Visa prices vary enormously depending on the traveller’s passport: richer the country, the less its citizens have to pay to go abroad.Wondering if travelling a lot is a fad or not, I assure you, it doesn't make you enlightened or less shallow than any other human walking on this earth and travel culture is another form of flexing, big time! 

Hitting the clubs, searching for the best booze and joints, ogling at the women visitors, clubbing, partying or barhopping might as well be considered "shallow" but traveling is often portrayed similar to seeking enlightenment. Money won't buy you happiness but if you can get your hands on visas and flight tickets for hitting corners of the unknown world, that might give you happiness and a sense of elation, though it comes with shelling a big amount of bucks. You need to ask, what's wrong if happiness comes out of money, isn't it the same thing?

 "Travel culture" is flexing (I don't see it any different than cancel culture where you first refuse and then completely deny what's happening around you, pretending to be woke at the same time, suddenly waking up from a deep slumber and cancelling out on those you see with disdain, the ones you find hateful, or the ones whose thought process you can't relate to). If you observe closely, in last few decades, it became offensive to brag about expensive stuff, so now people now brag about their 'trips' and 'experiences' It surely is flexing proving your superiority and supremacy over those who can hardly think about luscious indulgences, much needed leisures, luxurious getaways and expensive executive suites.  Wealth is privilege, a deathly poison when it takes the form of recklessness and unnerving madness amidst widespread human devastation. 

It wasn't long ago, when health officials warned travellers to avoid non essential travel to control the crowding and spread of the virus. Remember, when Maldives suspended Bollywood celebrities who had been visiting the exotic location for vacationing while people were dying in India? India's rich being largest single group of visitors to the archipelago this year even after the ban.

Commercial airline prices have already soared as more countries closed the doors on India. In the final days before the UAE's flight ban came into effect, a one-way flight in economy class from Mumbai to Dubai cost $1750, not less than 10 times the regular price. Even, New Zealand had closed its borders to arrivals from India in April. Australia followed suit, suspending passenger flights until May 15, and Canada, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and the UK were among other destinations that had done the same.

"It's not only the ultra rich", quoted a owner of a private club "Whoever can afford, they are taking private jets." Well, let's leave all the mind games, we know who all are the ultra rich that can "afford to" have such luxuries. Period.

In U K, Zara Holland and her partner Elliot boarded a plane to Barbados with plans to ring in New Year in sunshine but the pair in a bizarre moment, were taken into police custody on the island after trying to flee the country when Elliot tested positive for COVID-19.  Love Island couple Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury who traveled to Dubai and Maldives were shamed on social media for filming their travel without wearing masks. They were pointed out, when one of the netizens questioned them, for not wearing masks properly, for being selfishly shameless and inconsiderate about native populations of the countries and islands they were visiting. The pair didn't forget to get their precious views, amidst global concerns about the virus spread but forgot to comply with the rules? Suspicious enough!

Money can not only buy you freedom from consequences, it can allow self-interest to thrive, even in the face of tragedies. 

Madonna in recent fan video soaking in rose petals preached a sermon to her fans saying about advantages of pandemic and how 'It's the great equalizer and what's terrible about it is what's great about it.' She was brutally brought to realisation when she got accused of "romanticizing" a global tragedy sitting in a bathtub sprinkled with flower petals wearing nothing but jewelry and waxing poetic about coronavirus. 

Justin Bieber, Hailey and Kendall in an Insta live stream came off as demeaning and insensitive while talking about how they "can't feel bad" for their wealth since they "worked hard." for it to enjoy the privileges. The whole conversation turned sour when they began to discuss how "blessed" they were at a time when people were "crippling." but "can't feel bad enough for the things they have." Vanessa Hudgens complained about missing travelling to Coachella, telling fans that COVID-19 deaths are "terrible" but are they not  "inevitable." Surely not for Vanessa.

Bette Midler, who laments in his titter bio of being "stuck at home just like everyone else," offered a self-deprecating tribute to housekeepers, backhandedly saluting them for doing best to keep families well, safe and alive. It didn't go well with women who are suffering additional burden of unshared house work, the full time care for family that they've to do, has left them with no option for leisure or travel. A lady who was also a mother responded saying, most people never get the luxury in life, of outsourcing menial tasks like cooking, cleaning and washing to a housekeeper or help or a maid, in the first place. 

Entertainment mogul David Geffen, having net worth approx $7.7 billion, was doing aboard his $590 million superyacht, Rising Sun, in the Grenadines. Can we say that this is best way to quarantine and best time amidst fatalities to be a billionaire? Their lavishing lifestyle and ravishing hobbies looks nothing less than a blast. When held accountable, Geffen  made his social media account private. In US, Ted Cruz was once caught flying to Cancun while Texas was hit by COVID as well as power crisis during a deadly winter storm. Kim Kardashian was seen hosting an island birthday bash for family in Tahiti amidst raging pandemic. 

Back in US, it started with Zac Efron,then Mark Wahlberg and Matt Damon when jetted in, and then dozens of other celebrities were seen fleeing all to set up temporary homes in Australia. More recently, Julia Roberts landed Australia for shooting the film titled "Ticket to Paradise." Irony! Half of the Hollywood fled to Australia, viewing it as a Covid-free idyll. Also, Julia Roberts and Ed Sheeran holed up together to quarantine on a luxurious ranch outside of Sydney. While civilians were being stranded outside airports because of lockdown earlier, the two tier system favoured the rich and A listers and was unusually softer towards them which angered the citizens. In India, Pooja Bedi asked people to 'free their minds' as she took a private boat ride in Goa while in US, Gisele Bunchen striked a lotus pose as in meditation, preaching calmness from a luxurious island. 

Haven't y'all learnt about practising what you preach? Still, here you are, in a spree to enjoy tropical sun, with waterfalls in the background, having cocktails in the pool, relishing the summer delights, like we've never heard of pre Covid era. Don't act like a multi millionaire snowflake! You can do much better, writing a check with much ho hum, just to shut mouths of social critics. You can't get away with the bare minimum you do on one hand, while sprouting tone-deaf and ineffectual verses on the other. Your dismissive attitude toward the severity of the crisis is sickening. 

It's stomach churning and sinister to see, how pandemic has revealed stark inequalities in society and how we'll perceive money and privilege, in days to come. I don't see it any different than Indian politicians holding their rallies in poll-bound states and MPs flying in the private jets through one state to another, travelling at their best while others who were pro government ministers, were busy promoting herbal grasses, dark chocolates and cow urine as Covid treatments. 

They were just too many wealthy people who were seen carelessly using their vast resources for their own pleasure, travelling, shopping, splurging rather than to help, as people struggled with the impacts of COVID: unemployment, displacement, poverty, and hunger & loss of lives. Meanwhile, essential workers in a war like conditions, were reaching out to people with necessary services, even for low wages.

IMF estimates that income inequality rose more sharply in 2020 than it did in previously occurring economic and financial crisis. Inequality between nations, as well as between households is on rise, wiping out a decade of progress in battling inequality in developing economies, according to the IMF. We are back to zero on the scale, the worst hit are women, ethnic minorities, migrants, the low-skilled and the young. Wealthier one's can afford to travel and not care if their actions adversely impact low-income and marginalized communities that don't have access to healthcare resources,”

The pandemic not only intensified their beliefs around money and politics but has unmasked all and left them butt naked with the revealations. 

Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, “I like to pay taxes. With them, I buy civilization." Oligarchies are almost impossible to unwind except by war like conditions or a mass revolution. Extreme wealth inequality confronts nations with a civilizational threat. Wealth taxes can be an  answer in future. 

Emissions from polluting industries like flying, threaten to crash the climate. One environmental report shows the similar pattern of inequality around the world – a small minority of rich, the frequent flyers take an unfair share of the flights while the poorest communities are already suffering the impacts of a warming climate, the benefits of high-carbon lifestyles are enjoyed thoroughly enjoyed by the few.

 A progressive tax on aviation would treat frequent flying as luxury habit it is. A lot of people travel but it's only the privileged few who fly often and that needs to be taken into account. Meanwhile, avoiding just one transatlantic flight a year could be eight times more effective at saving on emissions than recycling. Living car-free could be 11 times more effective. To cut the carbon footprint we need to stick to “high-impact actions”  than “sweating for the small stuff”.

As inequity in public transportation is increasing, with air flights being the most inequitable. Amenities for those who can afford to pay a lot, are improving as it was visible throughout pandemic, but not for the common mass who cannot afford air-conditioned travel or high speed transportation. In India thousands of people died during first phase of unannounced lockdown where people in absence of transport walked miles on concrete roads in blazing hot summers during day, met with accidents or crushed under the wheels of lorries or trucks during night. About 8,700 people died on train tracks. Those who reached homes after endless efforts will have scars for life and loss of faith in the system. Sadly, transportation is being privatised for the rich rapidly, with the only public sector airline being sold off and airports also being privatised, bus terminals and train platforms are given to big corporates in India like Adanis and Ambani. 

After seeing the public being mocked during catastrophe, I concur that "traveling" doesn't make you an enlightened intellectual in any way if you don't have the basic sense of life and deeper understanding of humanity. Dimwits who try to compete with the others over number of places they've been to or lesser known foreign places they've travelled or 'done' a country better than everyone else, just to get praises in closets full of other dimwits, needs a thorough realisation of reality. Bragging about 33 countries and 3 continents shows your stupidity that the list of places is nothing but a possession to you. Mind you, lists won't make a difference in other's lives but impact does. 

Infact, traveling if done right, helps in breaking down cultural differences and stereotypes, dissolves mental barriers, taking us out of our comfort zones, smashes down the colourful shades over our eyes through which we judge others.  I remember the school song which we sang, along with my girl choir members at the inauguration of international children's summer camp. 

Good neighbours come in all colours,

Black red yellow and tan

Our outside may look different

but we belong to the family of man.

(humankind precisely) 

And the other one which we cried and sang for the grand finale after one week long program, hugging our friends who were returning back to Australia, US and South Africa.

When the world says, stay away

we're from a different land. 

Gonna tell that we're one country

we are world citizens. 

Then turn that wall into a bridge

take your neighbours by your hand 

Walk across the bridge

to the world, god promised man. 

Building Bridges of the

walls.. that keep us apart. 

That was one of the most unforgettable days of my life as a teenage girl having her worldview moments. Through these valuable conversations, meeting people, from diverse backgrounds, races, and cultures, I learnt how they’ve been negatively stigmatized, stereotyped and portrayed in media as well as majority factions of society. It forces you and instills in you, an urge to out grow these portrayals and smash them down on the face of persecutors, which takes effort if one is entrenched in a society and culture that celebrates jingoists and their chauvinism.

Also, how can we forget some of the online travelers or travel influencers, taking 'business' trips to sell what? sweatshop junks, plastic shades, bare minimum bikinis, weird mix of drinks, skin creams that even they'll fear to use in real life. Social media exploitative and self-indulgent celebrities behind their short term fame, have no credibility at all. They are the same people who'll spread rumours and racist stories about how the local people were so strange and how "they did things the wrong way." I wish to know, If you hate Japanese people that much why did you even go to Japan? or India or China? Stop your Asian hate penetrated deep in your bones, your privileged act and how you treat others like you're visiting a zoo or circus. It's hard to digest your audacity to travel, yo write off a country as "lesser than" yours, and then you are are so proud telling others that you didn't actually visit the country too much and basically just stayed for a day or two because you see these countries and it's people nothing less than animals, like how "everyone’s looks too drunk or as if they are cracking on pots and the city is just so weird and dirty!" Well, you know who is lying to whom and what you just did, added it to xenophobia. 

Travel doesn’t make you more enlightened than others but it surely gives you a better opportunity to develop a perspective and sense of empathy. The worst people you'll meet will be the ones who've never stepped a foot outside their town they were born in, hating everything foreign or different than theirs, trying to enforce on others, what they perceive to be normal. In Iceland 'stupid' translates to 'someone that doesn't go far from home' How ironic! So the issue isn't with travel per se, but with the way some travel aficionados talk about travel or show off on social media. It melts down to the kind of conversations people do, at last. 

With employing 330 million people, contributing 10% to global GDP before pandemic, predicted to create 100 million new jobs ahead – it's imperative to restore tourism and travel industry to become accessible and inclusive, the one which supports equality, diverse cultures and individuals both as travellers and job seekers. 

Climate change and “overtourism” are so intricately linked that we must address it soon. A 2018 study found that global tourism accounted for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions from 2009 to 2013; four times higher than previous estimates. Even more worryingly, this puts progress towards the Paris Agreement at risk – recovery efforts must centre around environmental sustainability.

As 20 most popular global destinations are predicted to add more international arrivals than rest of the world combined and consumers wanting to travel again we must, in all seriousness, need to address the issues associated with rising inequity, rich exploiting the travelling industry, high flight prices, carbon footprint, alternative sources of travelling, overcrowding in places emerging as hot tourist destinations, like Saudi Arabia, Maldives, Mauritius or even Italy or Greece.

Anthrocene was a reality and so is Great Reset, a chance to make sure that as we rebuild, we do it better as it provides an opportunity to rethink how travelling can become a truly enlightening experience and how tourism is delivered in more sustainable , inclusive and resilient way.