Today, even kindness feels like currency. ‘Relationships’ are networks to leverage; neighbors are strangers behind high walls. We scroll past suffering, order ‘connection’ through screens, while the air thickens with heat and disconnection. My grandmother’s stories—where demons were outsized, not mundane like indifference—couldn’t warn us about this: a world where everything feels like business, and the weather itself has turned ruthless.
In Mothadaka, we knew a different arithmetic. Relationships weren’t transactions; they were shared breath. Carrying water pots with Lalu, building mud forts with Rama, watching NTR battle injustice under the Milky Way—these weren’t ‘efficient.’ They were essential. Grandmother’s ‘Raju Gari Mugguru Baryalu’ wasn’t entertainment; it was moral code whispered in the dark.
The earth was our partner: We felt the cool grit under bare feet, slept under stars needing no fan, cooked with ‘kathi’ sticks that demanded effort and left Amma’s eyes stinging but fed us all. Physical work wasn’t punishment—it was rhythm. It tied us to the land, to each other, to our own bodies. Mental health wasn’t a hashtag; it was the solid weight of Gundu’s hand on your shoulder during a ghost story, knowing you belonged.
We called it ‘progress.’ We paved the earth where forts once stood. We replaced shared water pots with private purifiers. We swapped NTR’s epic struggles under open skies for solo streaming in air-conditioned tombs. We abandoned ‘kathi’ for gas stoves—cleaner for our kitchens, but choking the sky.
The result? A loneliness epidemic. Bodies atrophying from convenience. A feverish planet. The ‘90s weren’t perfect, but their balance—between effort and ease, community and self, human and nature—was a climate we’ve recklessly abandoned.
Healing starts where we unraveled: rebuilding genuine community and re-engaging our bodies with the earth. This isn’t nostalgia; it’s survival strategy.
Feasible Steps Rooted in Your Truth:
Revive the ‘Village Square’: Demand & create communal green spaces (unpaved!). Solar-powered community screens showing climate films and Dana Veera Sura Karna. Shared tool libraries, repair cafes, skill swaps (like Amma’s cooking, but with efficient stoves). This rebuilds muscle, mind, and connection.
Name Your Neighbours: Literally. Start a ‘pet name’ tradition based on shared acts: “Planter Shanti,” “Compost Ravi.” Host rooftop story nights (ghost stories + climate solutions). Fights isolation, builds accountability.
Embrace ‘Kathi’ Effort: Choose physical labor over gadgets: bike, walk, grow food, hand-wash clothes. Support policies for walkable cities, local food systems. Cuts emissions, builds health, grounds us.
Restore the 90s Climate Ethos: Plant native trees (giants like Grandmother’s banyan) relentlessly. Rip up concrete for rain gardens. Demand renewable energy now. Our benchmark? The cool nights where stars were clear, and fans were optional. This is the legacy future generations need.
Grandmother’s stories featured demons vanquished by courage. Ours? Apathy, convenience, and a overheating world. Be Bhima planting trees with Gundu’s strength. Be Kunti’s sharp eye spotting a neighbor in need. Carry water for community gardens with Lalu’s humor.
Posted 12/09/2025
