Have you lived your life to the fullest? Visited the 100 places to see before you die? Done whatever you wanted to? Not that I am curious. With all the speculation about the world coming to an end in 2012, you may want to do all you can. The rate at which we are depleting our environment, it will be apocalypse sometime soon, if not in 2012.
With melting glaciers, diminishing water resources, forest fires and climate change, global warming is staring us in the face, slowly but steadily sucking the life out of this planet...out of us. NDTV's Greenathon is a campaign that tells us it's still not too late and there are a dozen ways to save the environment and prevent the cataclysm. One of the simplest ways Greenathon emphasises is to plant saplings. As part of the campaign, the channel has come up with Green Anthem, a music video to spread awareness about preventing environment degradation. Last year's crusade video had Preity Zinta leading a class of children to plant saplings. This year, Priyanka Chopra has taken over as the brand ambassador and will feature in the video produced by RedDot Productions. “The idea was not to be preachy but to reach out and motivate the audience to take action. So, when we were brainstorming, we were very clear that the campaign had to connect with the audience. We took a more visually appealing, fun route to convey our message. The video deals with the small, everyday actions that can have a big impact overall,” says Priyanka.
Explaining the concept, Richa Sahai, director of the video, says, “We have created two worlds. One is Priyanka's world which is surreal, so we used animation there. The other is the real world where people carry on with their day-to-day activities and are shown wasting natural resources.”
The ambassadors and the video might have changed but the music track remains the same. Written by Gulzar and composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, the catchy ‘ Hawaayein, patte, pani, per, jungle, sabz sona hain ' plays in the background as the three-and-a-half-minute video shows a despairing Priyanka in a polluted, barren landscape, looking for a solution. A ray of hope arises as a green sapling sprouts out of the cracked earth. Priyanka then hands it over to a little girl, who runs into the real world and passes the sapling on to a bunch of youngsters who again pass this baton of greenery to the people around. The sapling is the motif that symbolises the movement and the trigger that sparks off the change.
“There are so many simple ways in which we can save our surroundings. While conceptualising the video, I started doing a few small things such as turning off the tap while brushing my teeth, not using plastic and saving electricity...” lists Sahai. She believes these practices cannot be imposed on people; but they have to come from within. People have to be inspired to work for the cause and the Green Anthem video is just a simple way to instil in them the ways to do it. “I believe the Greenathon campaign is like a tiny drop in the ocean but it does have an impact,” she says.
So, you think you have lived your life but what about your little ones and the future generation. Spare a thought. It's a wonderful world. Don't deny them the gift of life. How about gearing up and getting into action? I have my sapling ready, what about you?
The music video will be aired tonight at 9 p.m. in the NDTV news bulletin.
