I am a medical student working as a trainee. My dreams are becoming weird since last week. Plastic speaks, dustbin speaks, the industry and vehicle speak. Don’t be confused. It’s just a childish dream. Not only a dream but a dream with a greater reflection of our life on this beautiful earth.

I went to the hospital as an ST8 grade doctor for an evening visit. A coughing industry smiled at me. I went near to him and asked him about his health condition. He explained his seriousness over his health. I suggested him and questioned him about his hygiene. Why wouldn’t he use filters for smoking, consume low-grade fuels, and release of effluents? I acquainted him with his pollutant causing the effect on the environment and needs of his good health for better health of his correspondence.

He directed his blame towards me, a human, by pointing his index figure. “you humans are the reason that we are releasing so much toxicity. Your negligence. Your money-oriented mindset has pressurized us not to use good quality of fuel, not let us use proper sanitary processes.” He turned his face away from me.

By knowing his unwillingness to talk to humans I walk towards another patient next to him. An old vehicle with a carcinogenic illness. At first, she gave me a welcoming gesture and let me sit beside her bed. I refer her to have bypass surgery to replace the petroleum engine with an electrical one. She refuses to do so. She begs me for not having that surgery as she explained there is no any infrastructure that will be friendly for her after the surgery. She wants to live the same the way she is suffering but pointed me for not being ready to accept her in her afterlife. She regrates on the unmanaged use of her family members. Excessive use of her kind of vehicles with low refined and contaminated fuels. She gave me a huge no on my face for the surgery and shifted to another side of the bed with a heart filled with sorrow. I shifted myself to another patient with a heart filled with regrets. I regretted with what I, humans could have done before she gets suffered.

Mr. Plastic was in a psychological trauma, screaming out with a migraine. Though being a doctor. Even I was scared of that situation. I tried to talk to him. Any normal human can understand the pain he was going through. He was screaming, “I was born to make your life easier. What if you had just utilized me in a sustainable manner. You, humans, overused me. I am a product of the mother earth; I too want to live on this earth. I still want to make your lives easier. You made me the most hated one on the earth. The only responsible one for my situation is you, people.” I was afraid that every blaming was pointed towards me. I wanted to escape that vision. I shifted to the last bed in the row.

She was lying on the bed as if everyone has left her. The dust bin, on a pale voice she greeted me, no any expression, but face full of disappointment. She pulled my apron and started to open up her mouth. The mouth stinks like a rotten potato. With a very low voice, she explained, “I have a pain in my stomach, I feel nausea, my head burns, feels like vomiting whenever someone fills my tummy. The entire body system is feeling unwell. Everyone from your society blames my fault either he or she is a doctorate or an illiterate. They question on my system without looking at their own.”. Pointing towards me, “You, filthy homo whatsoever, won’t give any effort on helping me by segregating and minimizing waste which will lower down my burden. You cannot fully remove my burden but at least you can try your best and be responsible.” She mumbled afterward.

I left that ward, that’s what a human does. But there was a change in me while leaving that ward and the dream. I can help them, all of them, every individual from that ward, in the real world. I felt like I can change their health. Without their good health, our existence is almost questionable. Human is so selfish that I can help them to protect the existence of my own kind.

Sonam Shrestha, GoldenGate International College

(Note: The views published in the blog are personal views of the writer alone and do not represent Environment Protection and Study Center. The article has been selected as winner for the monthly blog competition based on the theme provided on Spetember by Environment Protection and Study Center.)