By- Dwishojoyee Banerjee, Young Campaigner, Bal Raksha Bharat (globally recognized as Save the Children)
It came to me last night,
And last night didn’t blossom into a morning
It Knocked at my door,
I didn’t say anything,
But it came in,
Barged in
It screamed loud, in a voice furious and heavy
It beckoned me out of my sleep,
Called out to me and took me to a dark place
A very dark place, darker than what I had anticipated
That place had many people,
I smelt smoke choking
I heard, the Fires crackling
I felt the Ozone curdling
I saw, Activist posters tearing
I touched the Thunderous rain pouring
And the world,
The world was succumbing
I tried to speak,
I opened my mouth and all that came was a croak
I tried, but only incoherence came out.
The girl next to me said: “We are at the end of the world, don’t freak out, we made it inevitable”
They were all standing there, chained to a dungeon
It chained me too. And I stood there, still and still shocked and bewildered.
Many questions inside me remained unanswered until the smoke and thunder choked my soul and burnt my body.
“Did humans drive it to this point?”
“Were efforts not made enough?”
“Did we kill the Earth into killing us?”
And with a thud, I woke up, the morning has not bloomed yet. The world is sleeping. It’s time to wake up, the signs have been crystal clear. Climate change is real. It’s time for people to not just raise their voices, but to rise against all people in power who choose to be deaf and fail us. It’s time, wake up, wage a struggle, and save the earth
Dwishojoyee is a young changemaker who is working passionately to replace plastic bags with paper bags. To know more about her work in the field of climate change, do read our interview with her by clicking here.