English (Core) · Ch 7 — The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement's Role
About the Author and the Text
About the Author and the Text
Nani Palkhivala (1920-2002) was one of India's most respected jurists, economists and public thinkers. A celebrated constitutional lawyer, a fearless commentator on national affairs and a former Indian ambassador to the United States, he was also a gifted essayist and orator whose writings ranged far beyond the law to the great questions of his time.
About the text
This lesson, "The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement's Role", was written by Palkhivala and published in The Indian Express on 24 November 1994. It is a persuasive essay — closer to a reasoned appeal than a story — with no characters or plot. Palkhivala argues that the earth is like a patient whose health is in decline, and that the worldwide Green Movement has, for the first time, made humanity conscious of its duty to care for the planet. Drawing on reports, statistics and the words of scientists, economists and statesmen, he warns about vanishing forests, exhausted biological systems and runaway population growth, and calls on every one of us — and on industry especially — to become a responsible trustee of the earth for future generations. Though written decades ago, the concerns he raised remain sharply relevant today.
Notice these expressions in the text. Infer their meaning from the context.
- a holistic and ecological view — a way of seeing the world as one connected whole rather than as separate, unrelated parts
- inter alia — a Latin phrase meaning "among other things"
- sustainable development — growth that meets present needs without destroying resources future generations will need
- decimated — largely destroyed or drastically reduced in number
- languish — to remain neglected, unnoticed or in a poor, wasting condition
- catastrophic depletion — a disastrously severe using-up or reduction of a resource
- ignominious darkness — a shameful, unworthy obscurity or neglect
- transcending concern — a concern so great that it rises above and beyond all others