Concerns, yours and mine

"The population of migers is dwindling fast!" exclaimed John as he sat reading his Sunday newspaper in his armchair.

"Yes. I saw a news report on TV a few days ago about migers" added Jane as she continued with her household chores.

"I think the government should declare miger as an endangered species" mumbled John, stretching his back and arms. Nowadays sitting in the armchair for long caused some stiffness in his body. "I think I must replace this armchair".

"Or your back" said Jane with a giggle, "you are getting old".

"Fifty is not 'old', old woman!" John retorted with mock irrigation in his voice and quickly escaped to the bathroom before she could say anything.

Like John and Jane, their children Tom and Olivia also took interest in events occurring around them. They both went to the same high school. "What a pity" said Olivia as she read the newspaper headline about migers.

"Why pity the migers?" said Tom, "they are carnivores like lions. They kill other animals".

"They kill for food and not for fun" argued Olivia, "and now their species is being wiped out by loss of habitat". She folded the newspaper and sat quietly in the armchair. "Just imagine how you would feel if you came to know that the number of humans is decreasing day by day, and would end in a year or two?"

"That would be horrible" said Tom trying to imagine his town without people.

"Now you see why I pity migers?" asked Olivia triumphantly, "they are in a terrible situation, and they are helpless. Wouldn't it be sad and painful if all the migers died forever? Tom felt a shiver down his spine. The prospect of losing something forever always frightened him. "And remember", continued Olivia, "it is we who are responsible for finishing them off".

"But won't we kill them if they entered our village and killed men and cattle?" argued Tom.

"Our villages?" asked Olivia, "and what about their villages? I mean their places to live, the jungles? We go on clearing the jungles to make our villages. We are encroaching upon their territory." Tom didn't know what to say. It was true. The human population was increasing at the cost of miger population.

Not far from the home of John, Jane, Tom and Olivia, some young men and women had gathered in a club hall of the village. They always came together on Sundays and other holidays to play sports and socialize. Some were busy playing tennis outside the hall and some were playing chess inside. But there was a small group of young men who didn't play at all. They just sat together in a corner, remaining silent most of the time. One of them had a newspaper but didn't read it.

By afternoon, Olivia arrived at the club hall. She played a game of tennis on the ground outside and then entered the hall. Her eyes fell upon the silent group. She knew two of them. Not friends. Acquaintances. Maybe less. She had played tennis with them once. So she knew their names.

"Hello Jack." Olivia had to say as a formality because accidentally she had made an eye contact with one of them.

"Hello, Olivia" Jack replied without breaking eye contact. "How do you do?" He added. Olivia didn't expect the conversation to continue. She felt uncomfortable.

"I am fine, thank you", Olivia reluctantly replied. She was deliberating on whether to ask "and how do you do" out of politeness, or to not say anything in order to end the conversation, when one of the young men got up from his chair, walked a few steps and stood by the window, all the time looking at her. Olivia felt he had offered her his chair even though there were empty chairs around. It was an invitation to join the group. She walked near the chair but didn't sit. Jack and others sensed her reluctance to join the group. But they knew how to make people feel comfortable as much as they knew how to put them into trouble. "You look lost in thoughts. Is something worrying you?" Jack asked.

Olivia didn't know what to answer. Just then she noticed the newspaper in Jack's hand. The thought of today's news automatically crossed her mind and she said "I was thinking about migers' extinction".

"Oh!" said Jack in a soft low voice "it is indeed a worrisome situation". He looked at the newspaper and then looked at his friends All the young men started staring at him. Were they mocking at Olivia? No. She could see the expression on their faces. They were completely blank.

When no one said anything for a while, Olivia took the opportunity to say "bye! Have a nice day" and quickly walked away. Jack waved his hand without looking at her. The silent group felt that Olivia had provided them something to talk about.

"So, migers are dying", said the young man by the window, "and Olivia is worried about it".

"We do have a problem", said another guy sitting close to Jack. Jack looked into his eyes. He knew what he was going to say. It was simply, "let's meet boss".

It was late evening when the group reached the office of Richard. "I was going to close the office in a few minutes" said James, who was the secretary of Richard. Richard the boss was a well built man, fifty years old, and was running for mayor's office next year. James, his secretary was a thin man in his thirties. He knew nothing about politics and yet Richard liked him much. "Boss is coming to get a file. You may wait for him" said James as he offered them chairs to sit.

As everyone waited for Richard, Jack started a casual conversation with James. "What do you think about extinction of migers?"

"Huh", replied James, "they are dying and I don't care". As all the young men looked at him, he felt he owed an explanation. "Till now, uncountable number of species have gone extinct. Dinosaurs, and Dodo for example. What difference does it make to our daily lives? Rise and extinction of species is an ongoing process in nature. A law of nature".

"But this time it is we who are killing them. Artificially. We must take the responsibility", said James in a concerned voice.

"Aren't we killing chicken for food? We kill countless number of animals daily and don't worry. So why worry now?" James argued as he leaned back on his chair.

"We are not making chicken extinct" spoke the guy sitting next to Jack.

James smiled. "As I said earlier, extinction of species is not a problem".

But extinction had to be a problem. Jack was irritated. He said, "if all such beautiful species went extinct, image how colorless our lives would become".

"Colorless?" Now it was James' turn to be irritated, "What are colors for? Entertainment? You are worried about colors in your life when people are struggling for their daily bread? Do you know a large population of cities leads a miserable life? You spend so much on museums and zoos hosting animals for people to see. But there are many people who never go there all their lives. They either don't have time or are simply not interested. From their point of view, spending on animals is a wasteful expenditure. They don't speak out for fear of being politically incorrect.

"Anyway," said Jack in a calm voice, "you will agree that each animal is a marvel of nature. We can study them to understand how to survive in extreme weather, and how to make better fibers and so on. If one species dies, we lose a treasure of information".

James had already thought about it. "Information is important" he said, "but for that you don't have to have whole animals around. Today you can have a digital copy of the whole genome of any living thing on a compact disc. After a few years or decades you will have the technology to bring back any animal to life. You can study the whole animal or any part of the genome as per your requirement."

Jack was amused by the farfetched ideas of the secretary. "He seems to be living in future", he thought, "or an altogether different world. He has lost contact with reality". Just then they heard the noise of Richard's car engine. They sat silently till he entered the office. James handed him the file and went on locking cabinets and drawers. Meanwhile Richard and the group of young men walked out. They all reached Richard's house and had a serious talk.

"You think Olivia's outlook represents anything?" asked Richard.

"Boss, many of the high school and college students have expressed their concern in past few days" said the guy standing next to Jack.

"You asked them?" asked Richard.

"Yes", said the guy. Richard stared at him. Then the guy said "Their concern seems genuine".

"The leader of animals rights activists is unhappy with the mayor", said Jack. Richard saw his pool of resources expanding.

"If you say", continued Jack, "if you say, we can mobilize a large group of students. We can have a rally in support of migers".

"The local newspapers haven't got a scoop for quite some time" said another young man.

Richard sat quietly staring at the wall in front to him. The young men knew what he was thinking. He was seeing a chance to address the public from a high platform. He was going to show his concern for a big problem they, the people were facing. He was going to awaken the masses and show them the problem of miger extinction which was now everybody's concern but the present Mayer was turning a blind eye to it. It was going to be a mass movement.

And the mass movement happened. After all, people understand their duty towards the society and environment in which they live. Before dying, they want to hand over to their children a better place to live in. Everybody made an effort. People took time off from their duties, made some donations for a bigger cause. Within a year their efforts bore fruits. Richard got elected as the mayor!

The miger population was still decreasing. Newspapers and magazines carried out articles on migers every month. Finally the national government declared Miger as an endangered species. Geographical area under Richard had a large number of migers. Safe zones were marked for migers who now needed their own sanctuary. Boundaries were drawn. John's house was found to be inside the migers' safe zone. John received a letter from the Mayor's office directing him to relocate within six months