blog Archives - Page 7 of 7 - Peepal - Bespoke & Sustainable Gardening Services

An intersection of technological advancements and policymaking

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon and just like any other weekend, I was binge watching. This time it was one of my all-time favourite sci-fi movies ‘Mad Max — The Fury Road’. It makes a simple yet compelling point — the pursuit of a post-apocalyptic green place ended where it started from.

As the movie progressed, my mind began to drift away in joining the dots together. The blurry line between scientific fiction and non-fiction was disappearing and something, preposterously common between the two was becoming vividly evident. Both forms exploit the idea of using advanced technologies to save mankind from extinction by discovering newer horizons and building better habitats.

But how could scriptwriters peek into the future before scientists? There have been astounding similarities between the vision of filmmakers and the natural disasters taking place now. Few movies that show this correlation include Contagion (2011) > Covid-19, Interstellar (2014) > sandstorms in China and Martian (2015) > SpaceX Mars mission.

The phantasmagoria projected by sci-fi movies and the actuality represented by the real-world scientists intersects at technology and policy. It may seem like a coincidence, but history tells us that early warnings of climate change have been ignored by governments, creating negative externalities on individuals, degrading public goods such as air, water, land and accelerating irreversible environmental damage over the years.

The expeditious progress of the West has always fascinated me. Be it the scientific and technological progress it has made over the years or industrial revolution that it has pioneered or the Hollywood action movies, there’s something surreptitious about it.

Did they really have access to an Atlantis equivalent system of information? Or did the tectonic plates push an entire nation of intellectuals westward? Or did they try more, fail more and hence, experience more than the rest of the world?

On the other end of the spectrum, I wonder why was NASA or Google established in the US and not in India (despite the fact that Indians constitute a sizeable chunk of its workforce)? Why did the Northwest Europe succeed in global trade and commerce while the Middle East did not (despite the fact that both the worlds have similar demographics and access to natural resources)?

The questions seem to be infinite, and the possibilities may be limitless ranging from human capital, geography, cultural differences to abundance of natural resources. Perhaps, the key lies in policy (the strategy behind governance).

In this 3-part series, I shall attempt to unravel a phenomenon with interesting examples of how technology in the quest for advancing mankind, is, in fact, bringing us back to square one.

One of the most difficult tasks in creating a brand is choosing the right brand name. In addition to being different, it also needs to reflect a brand’s philosophy in a simple and relatable way. A real tough challenge to crack.

Like many others, there were in-numerous brainstorming sessions to arrive at a logical conclusion. And one fine morning, I woke up to the name literally.

But before that, what is the brand and the business, one would ask.

As it turns out, sowing a seed or growing a sapling isn’t enough to create a truly green, sustainable world. The complete knowledge of gardening and study of our natural world determines how well we are inching towards our green goals.

In simple terms, my brand aims to make a difference in the lives of people, plants and the planet we live. Not that simple, right? Let me break it down for you.

Good health is often described as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not just merely the absence of a disease.

One of the most underrated enablers in achieving this state are — plants. Several global studies show that gardening promotes physical health through activity, mental health through self-care, and spiritual health through discovery. To that effect and coupled with the Covid-19 lockdown, gardening took the centre-stage in our lives, globally.

While this may seem all known and good, there is bad news too.

Thanks to the internet, we can now buy these living things online — just like any other (non-living) thing. Thanks to technology, we can mass produce them in almost any climatic condition — making them exotic and aspirational. And thanks to cheap transportation, we can introduce them in any part of the world — making them invasive in the local ecosystem.

Plants, the genesis of a sustainable world, are creating a negative impact on our environment, if planted without knowledge and wisdom.

Consumerism and commercialization in the gardening, horticulture industry has given rise to the most unsustainable practices today, be it opting for exotic (non-native) plants or non-eco-friendly gardening materials (plastic, concrete, fiber).

Peepal was born out of this observation.

Since the roots of these challenges lie in our past, we turned to the ancient wisdom and combined it with the present knowledge.

Peepal is not a tree — ficus religiosa but a combination of many things that universe has packed into one. And our brand aims to embody the many qualities that it has to offer:

The spiritual connection: a sacred, native, indigenous plant of India representing enlightenment
The health connection: a healer with medicinal properties that cures several diseases
The social connection: a common place for ‘people’ to celebrate and convene
The emotional and mental connection: a symbol of perseverance and adaptability
The sustainability connection: a key player in maintaining the ecological balance

Above all, it is humble unlike its sibling — ficus benghalensis also known as a strangler tree which is famous for building its foundation on someone else’s.