Necessity is the mother of invention. But what if the invention is counterproductive or counter intuitive in the long run? What if it does more harm more than good. Take for example, the invention of wheels and cars - and how mobility revolutionised the way we worked and lived. Fast forward to a couple of decades later, and vehicular pollution has emerged to be an existential threat. There are more cars than parking lots (think Delhi) and public transport still has to catch up with how the population has exploded in the last few decades.
The growth in air conditioning sales across India is a great indicator of the increase in purchasing power parity of India's middle class but have we paused to think why these machines are becoming a norm? You don't have to go too far to find out the answer. Jut start with the national capital. Our cities have transformed into gas and furnace chambers, hotter than they have ever been before. Once the body is acclimatised and used to ACs, it's unbearable for the person to live without it - an addiction we all rarely talk about, except, of course when the electricity bills hit the roof.
So the necessities that led to these marvellous inventions and made our lives a heavenly experience - haven't they got us into more trouble now? Only if we could learn from our experiences but it seems we are on a roller coaster ride to self-annihilation. And we seem to be enjoying it. Thanks to our advancement in science and technology, we now have air purifiers - devices which can remove air pollutants inside our homes and hopefully, improve its Air Quality Index (AQI). Imagine where we have got ourselves into! No air to breathe and we want to be the super power of the world!
Any sane person who can afford an air purifier will go ahead and do it, especially in Delhi-NCR. And why not - nobody wants their 5-year-old daughter or 50 year-0ld mom to inhale the poison that surrounds us.
Going back to the same question - is this necessity of inventing a machine that can solve our air problems temporarily in the four walls of a room become a permanent solution? After all, you can't carry a air purifier in your bag pack, like a a oxygen cylinder always with you. Or is that the future? We never know.
Treating the symptoms and not the disease may cost us dearly. We have everything we wanted- all the luxuries of the world but we don't have fresh air to breathe in and feel the magic of nature. That sounds stupid. As a species who have come this far, conquering every challenge thrown our way, a doomsday, entirely created and directed by us shouldn't be our collective fate. That would be such a bad script.
But the question is - will we focus on treating the disease or just treat the symptoms? What we do would determine our end story. Our kids are watching us. Will we rise? And most importantly, can air purifiers save us?
P.S - Electric cars are said to be the future of transportation. Car sharing, car pooling are recommended as the best solution to a choking city. As an intelligent species, we do evolve, but we have to do that at an alarmingly faster pace.
The growth in air conditioning sales across India is a great indicator of the increase in purchasing power parity of India's middle class but have we paused to think why these machines are becoming a norm? You don't have to go too far to find out the answer. Jut start with the national capital. Our cities have transformed into gas and furnace chambers, hotter than they have ever been before. Once the body is acclimatised and used to ACs, it's unbearable for the person to live without it - an addiction we all rarely talk about, except, of course when the electricity bills hit the roof.
So the necessities that led to these marvellous inventions and made our lives a heavenly experience - haven't they got us into more trouble now? Only if we could learn from our experiences but it seems we are on a roller coaster ride to self-annihilation. And we seem to be enjoying it. Thanks to our advancement in science and technology, we now have air purifiers - devices which can remove air pollutants inside our homes and hopefully, improve its Air Quality Index (AQI). Imagine where we have got ourselves into! No air to breathe and we want to be the super power of the world!
Any sane person who can afford an air purifier will go ahead and do it, especially in Delhi-NCR. And why not - nobody wants their 5-year-old daughter or 50 year-0ld mom to inhale the poison that surrounds us.
Going back to the same question - is this necessity of inventing a machine that can solve our air problems temporarily in the four walls of a room become a permanent solution? After all, you can't carry a air purifier in your bag pack, like a a oxygen cylinder always with you. Or is that the future? We never know.
Treating the symptoms and not the disease may cost us dearly. We have everything we wanted- all the luxuries of the world but we don't have fresh air to breathe in and feel the magic of nature. That sounds stupid. As a species who have come this far, conquering every challenge thrown our way, a doomsday, entirely created and directed by us shouldn't be our collective fate. That would be such a bad script.
But the question is - will we focus on treating the disease or just treat the symptoms? What we do would determine our end story. Our kids are watching us. Will we rise? And most importantly, can air purifiers save us?
P.S - Electric cars are said to be the future of transportation. Car sharing, car pooling are recommended as the best solution to a choking city. As an intelligent species, we do evolve, but we have to do that at an alarmingly faster pace.
