Dear Fellow Members,

Are we responsible, are we reliable, are we committed, are we passionate, are we compassionate, are we doers, are we thinkers, are we visionaries, are we the dedicated lot? Mother Nature seeks an answer; are we ready?

The thought was provoked as I read “Learning from Nature” in the English daily The Times of India and I present an excerpt from the same.

Nature provides us all the food we need and as it goes into the stomach, it becomes part of us providing the necessary energy, proteins, vitamins etc. All the food items were produced in an external world; but, miraculously, these food items are totally in accordance with our needs. Both are complementary to each other. This complementary link between two quite different things is clear evidence that one Creator made both. Sun, wind, water, earth and so on – all offshoots of Mother Nature – enjoyed and adapted by “WE”. This leads us to believe that in Nature there is unity of purpose – what may be called the oneness of God and the oneness of human beings. This phenomenon of nature gives us the right ideology of life – an ideology that is the basis of universal peace and brotherhood. This dispels the notion of “We and They”. This ideology inculcates the notion that Nature is not hostile but friendly towards us. And when we discover that Nature is of a friendly character, we also have no option but to adopt this friendly culture in our Society.

It is time we as designers perform, act and dedicate our part to Mother Nature through our profession, through our Institute and through our selflessness. We need to gain knowledge, we need to educate ourselves and we need to practice, followed by imparting information to the community, educating the Society and becoming a role model. Let you, me and we become the “change-makers” and thereby become “Champions of Change”.

As monsoon is approaching, can we think of having more green corners in our city/town by organising a sapling plantation camp with a commitment of minimum two years for nurturing saplings? Can we educate our Society to start planning for rainwater harvesting and show them ways and means to do the same? Can we come up with other innovative ideas to “preserve Planet Earth”?

I urge your support and action. I am confident that each Chapter/ Centre Chairperson will conclude their Term of Office as leader with one purposeful, eventful and meaningful activity in this direction.

When this issue comes to you, I would have completed my official visit to the following Chapters/Centres where I promise to stress on the above and try to bring some result:
1) Coimbatore Centre on May 28, 2012
2) Chennai Regional Chapter on May 29, 2012
3) Lucknow Centre on June 03, 2012
4) Kolhapur Regional Chapter on June 09, 2012

And I share the good news that we would have added one more Centre, IIID Vizag Centre, chartered on June 16, 2012, with the dynamic support of IIID Hyderabad Regional Chapter.

Ar. Bankim Dave