“The city I grew up in is transforming itself. Over two hundred thousand trees will be cut by 2010 for the metro, new roads, new malls and the commonwealth games. The ancient Ridge forest has now a fast train running through it. Buildings are brought down with the boom of a crane, in an instant, and replaced by glass and steel. The roads are choked with cars, which seem to be traveling to and fro, going somewhere, maybe nowhere. Overnight parks are converted into stadiums, as bulldozers and cranes stealthily uproot old and wizened trees at midnight, as the city sleeps, literally. Clockwork efficiency takes over, as we seem to move towards a predetermined future. Labour is just another commodity. Economic resources replace life-giving nature.
I retreat, in this midst, I retreat, to another place, which I always knew: to my elements.”
