"Greta" by Shravan B Nair

I am a 100% sure that you know who I am talking about in the title. TIME Person of the Year. Swedish, teen, climate change activist. Yes, Greta Thunberg. Greta has been making news around the world with her bold accusations and strong statements, however, what interests me is not this. It is what I understood from a random conversation I had lately.

Last week, I just happened to be talking with another person, and I asked him “Do you know Greta Thunberg?”. Big mistake. This was his cue to start telling me all about his dislike for Greta, and how he thought Greta was just overambitious, wishful, and a complete show-off. I was shocked. I wanted to ask him: “What has she done to you to make you hate her so much?”.

This conversation had filled my mind for the past few days. I realised with horror that there are thousands of people who hate Greta, chiding her for being a person with a pipe dream. Some say her arguments are illogical. Others say that she is being too much of an adult. A few people also say that she is using media to promote herself and not her ideas. I thought like this too, until I actually heard her words with my own ears. And I realised, with even more horror, that all the things haters said about her was false. I started to ask myself why people hated her so. Do people hate her because of her arrogance and naivety, or because of their personal ego and jealousy? I know. We all wish we could have been like Greta when we were her age. Is this wish turning us into ignorant, greedy monsters that fail to see the desperation and goodwill in Greta’s warnings?

Her message is one that needs to resound across every town and every city in the periphery of the world. Her message needs to be heard by everyone: governments, MPs, and us, the people. We might not realise the importance of what she is telling us now. The world is going to heat up by 2 degrees. So what? So, the polar ice caps are going to melt at a higher rate. So, lands are going to flood, and many are going to submerge completely. So, where will the people living in these places go to? So, houses will have to be shared, and people will have to compromise on their safety and luxury, on their food and water, on their wealth and health. So, is this the world you would like to live in?

Moreover, her biggest strength in this fight against climate change is media. Journalists are waiting to get something controversial, and Greta is serving them just that. By her smart use of media, every household has heard her. Big presidents (I am looking at you, Trump) might not care about the environment, but Greta has made sure that they take her seriously by giving the job over to journalists. She has used media to promote herself, yes indeed, but by promoting herself, she is ensuring that every child’s voice is heard on a global stage. Something noble, isn’t it?

We might hate Greta and her attitude. There’s no sin in that. Letting our hatred obscure the wisdom behind her words is the sin we are committing. And unconsciously. All we need to do to overcome the world’s greatest challenges is to overcome our ego.