Living in the New Millennium
Imagine it is December 31, 1999 and the clock is ticking away. Soon the world will pass on from one century to another. And with ardour and perplexity, we will move into the new millennium. ‘Living in the new millennium’—how exciting it sounds! But, we really don’t know what changes there will be or whether they will be for good or for bad. But yes, we can just guess, or rather, imagine what life will be in the new millennium.
One conspicuous issue, which will be of great importance even in the year 2000, will be the mounting level of pollution and deforestation. Living in a metropolitan city like Delhi will not be easy. Till date, Delhi figures-in the list of top three most-polluted cities in the world. 3000 metric tones of pollutants arc being dumped into the environment everyday out of which 70 per cent can be attributed to the vehicles. Imagine a day, say October 13, 2020. A child is born and relatives bring gifts for the newborn, but the gift has one thing in common. They are all oxygen masks of different varieties, colours and designs. A child is being welcomed by such a gift! This will be our plight!
Today we face paucity of food resources, shortage of electricity, niggardliness of water, energy, etc. But, just as today petrol has been substituted by CNG, who knows, by then our scientists may have discovered a new substance to substitute each and every scarce resource to satisfy the ever increasing demand.
One common point of agreement will definitely be science and technology and of course computers. Who could have imagined during the onset of the twentieth century, that we would successfully eradicate smallpox and discover efficient vaccines for polio and chickenpox. So, may the new millennium open up new horizons in the field of medical science with the cure of killer diseases such as AIDS and cancer.
Computers and, most specifically, the Internet will definitely characterize our life in future. Gone will be the lays when people will be communicating through postal letters. E-mail will become the best means of communication.
Amidst such a busy and fast lifestyle, nobody will be able to forget the pleasure of a good holiday. Maybe in the new millennium, people will travel, not from Delhi to Bangalore or Switzerland, but from the earth to the moon. Doesn’t that sound exciting? Yes, all of us can, may be in a few years from now, look forward to enjoying ourselves on the moon. Let us wish for love and harmony from the year 2000 onwards.
