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| My village river in spate |
The teak that stood on a side of my house came down
yesterday. It had to be felled before the cyclonic winds brought it down on our
house. A tree that had stood there for some three decades lay flat on the
ground in less than an hour. The lithe man who brought it down branch by branch
is 74 years old, I am told. He did look old, though 74 might be hyperbole. He
threw a rope over a tall branch of the teak with the help of a weight attached
to the end of the rope and once the rope was tied securely on to the branch,
the man climbed it up like a monkey. He was right on top in the wink of an eye.
Winds are bringing a lot of trees
down in Kerala these days. Every day we hear reports about the ravages of
winds. Electric power fails because trees fall on the lines. The monsoon has
just started. Monsoon in Kerala means incessant rains and constant power
failures.
The teak being felled
When I was a young boy, Monsoon in Kerala had similar incessant rains. But we went to school walking long distances in spite of such rains. There were no cyclones in those days. Where did the cyclones join the monsoon here? Climate change is the answer. “Nature writes back,” as environment magazine Down to Earth’s [DTE] latest cover says.
The monsoon I knew as a boy didn’t
carry “a malignant purpose in a nun’s eyes,” as poet Jayanta Mahapatra puts it
in his poem ‘A Rain of Rites’ reproduced in DTE. The allegorical nun was
benignant in the old world of my childhood. I remember the patter of raindrops
on leaves that accompanied me as I walked more than 4 kilometres to school
every morning, rain or no rain, and back in the evening the same way. And
Kerala did have a lot of rains in those days, more than now. Yet our parents
had no reason to worry about our safety.
Not so today. The district collectors
declare holiday for educational institutions when the monsoon becomes a Medusa
in fury. The rivers in the village have lost their melody and have become menacing
monsters carrying plastic waste of all hues and shapes. And occasional branches
of trees too, for a change.
The woodpeckers vanished long ago
from the trees. Where have all the nestlings gone? There isn’t even a butterfly
left to which I can sing along with Danyel Gerard: “Butterfly, my Butterfly /
now I know you must be free / Butterfly, don’t flutter by / Stay a little while
with me.”
They have fluttered by, the
butterflies. The dragonflies too. Where have all the birds disappeared? Human
greed dressed up as development has driven them all away. And now nature is “writing
back.”
Kerala received 620% more rains
already this monsoon, says my Malayalam newspaper this morning. When it rains,
we get deluges. Otherwise, we have droughts. Nature is writing back
vindictively.
If only we treaded with gentler steps, building not over nature, but alongside her… Perhaps the skies would breathe easier, the winds would wander in peace, and the rains wouldn’t be furies but blessings. Can’t we have progress that doesn’t roar but whispers, progress that’s green and wise?
PS. This post is part
of #BlogchatterBlogHop
A season for extremes, be it politics or weather!
ReplyDeleteSo true!
DeleteThe IMD has forecast above-average rainfall across the nation this monsoon. Bengaluru and coastal Karnataka too has been getting heavy rains. The sky is bit clear today after many days.
ReplyDeleteTree fall is very common here as well. One sad aspect is that every year some people lose lives after trees fall on their car or autorickshaw. That's quite scary.
Generally weather patterns have gone awry all across the world. Difficult to predict anything.
Indeed it is a global phenomenon. Matters are made worse with poor urban planning, illegal constructions, and levelling of hills and lakes.
DeleteHari Om
ReplyDeleteNature is not one to be stopped when her ire is up. YAM xx
We are witnessing that rather painfully.
DeleteWeather and its vagaries and its fury apart, I was elevated and enwarmed by your portrayal of the graceful and lithe young man, the village woodcutter and his art, which introduces your blog. The rope and also the axe, his partners, at-hand... Yes. The Nature does write back... A boomerang effect. Humans have to become wiser, to listen to the cry of the Planet, being denuded and degreened.. thanks to the greed of the rational animals. Gods cannot lift the curse. Only humans can...
ReplyDeleteThat man was doing this job from his youth onwards. He's an expert now. നിത്യാഭ്യാസി ആനയെ എടുക്കും.
DeleteI was quite surprised, however, by his way of doing it at his age.
It all goes together, doesn't it? The world moans under the pressure of us, but rather than trying to fix things, we double down.
ReplyDeleteWe seem so incapable of learning the essential lessons.
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ReplyDelete