Water and Fire

Water and fire are ‘enemies’. One can kill the other. But for us, both are friends as well as ‘enemies’. How destructive are both! Kerala just witnessed the havoc played by rain and how the ‘about to overflow’ dams became ‘damns’. In summer, forest fire burns and kills the entire habitat in the area affected. That way, fire’s destructive powers have limitations. In a terrain like that of Kerala, the entire ‘slope’ from mountain to plain and to coast get affected, but total destruction of the affected area may not happen. There are quite a few research thoughts about the ‘mujris’. A harbour itself got disappeared. In 1924, there was another flood which was devastating. And now there is another one, said to be a phenomenon happening once in hundred years!

Well, at the end, we blame ourselves. These are all results of our deeds! For centuries, we continue to do the same. Because we are humans and we have the human character. I do not think we can do much to change our character (I have not said “correct our character”). But we do need a solution that makes the destruction less severe - whether it is flood or whether it is fire.

I live in a city of a State in India that is blessed with nature’s beauty. The flood that caused many fleeing seems to be calming down. Rebuilding the huge loss is sure to take years. Now, what the flood has given us? Pictures of plastic wastes deposited by the flood are already appearing in WhatsApp messages. Think of these deposits in your houses when you return when the water level recedes. Its not simply the plastic covers or plastic bottles. There are wastes neatly packed in plastic covers. This habit of disposing packed wastes is something we learned recently. We need to unlearn it. Flood and fire when they become furious may not be controllable. But we can definitely refrain from adding to the miseries.