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.
