Perspective is a powerful thing. It can turn the dire into desire and hopelessness into certainty. When heading out to watch a documentary like the Nilgiris in the company of fellow idealists who curse and dream in the same breath, it is not difficult to spot the dissonance. On one hand will be the spectacular footage of wildlife projected onto the magnificence of a full size movie hall, on the other will be the knowledge that even as we watch in the AC-cooled dark confines of a decidedly environmentally harmful supermall, the actual subjects of the film would be that much further on the path to obsolescence through a combination of greed and antipathy. We want to enjoy the sights and sounds of the wild in the comfort of our urban forts but how many of us would be there on the ground when it is required to take a stand against the JCBs?
Of course, there is the faint flickering hope that amongst the thousands who pay their way to this recorded spectacle of nature’s bounty, a handful of these observers may be impelled to do more than that. This tiny minority of a minority will always be in short supply as bringing change requires mad devotion to the cause, otherwise often left at the mercy of important sounding words urging actions that never materialize. Changemakers will always account for only a minuscule proportion of the population, but the pretty on-screen story might just inspire them to take on the bad and confront the ugly truth yet.
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