From the images sent back by the NASA-European spacecraft Cassini, evidence of life’s four pre-requisites – liquid water, carbon, nitrogen and energy – has been found on Enceladus (pronounced ‘en-sell-ah-dus’), a moon of Saturn. There could be aliens out there! The ocean of the 500 km wide heavenly body was recorded sending out plumes of vapour into the space. Could that be a welcome signal to the unmanned spaceship from Earth, I wondered.
‘Don’t be man-brained, son, for once. Gravity, and not any of your customs caused those plumes to rise on the surface of Enceladus’ ocean.’ Kaga Bhushundiji had arrived to cast his pearls of wisdom before the dumb-witted me.
‘Everybody knows what scientists have said about the phenomenon. I was only trying to think out of the box,’ I retorted. This old crow can be so irritating at times. He picks up bits of information here and there to adorn his plumage. Just to show off.
‘If you think the whole universe is waiting only to welcome your kind, you are grossly mistaken. Enceladusians would rather like to invite cockroaches to propagate peacefully amidst them than have man competing with them.’ Kagaji cawed scornfully.
‘Kagaji, you are insulting my race,’ I asserted, ‘man is the master of the universe!’
‘You are conceited. Man is as much the master of the universe as a termite is of a wooden box it has infested. Look at yourself with the eyes of any other creature of this planet. The tricks that you take pride in – crafting wheel, igniting fire, digging out metal from bowels of Earth, extracting oil from under deserts and oceans, unleashing devastating energy from parmanu – atom – what purpose do they serve? Man uses these tricks to consume, dominate and destroy. Termites too know well how to gorge themselves on their surrounds to the finish.’
‘Kagaji, no termite can cajole, command or compel Nature to do its bidding as man does. Only man has the resourcefulness to turn adversities into advantages and illuminate mysteries of the universe with the light of his reason. He makes inanimate things sing sweeter than a koel and paints the world with a palette richer than a rainbow. He can dig deep into dark recesses of the past and gaze far into the future. He cogitates, philosophizes and abides by morality. His ingenuity has given him machines that can solve his problems and leave him free to follow higher pursuits. It is man again, Kagaji, who has given himself such an uplifting pursuit as religious devotion….’
‘Hold it, you must have got tired of singing your own praises,’ said Kagaji, interrupting me brusquely. ‘If man indeed was such a super-creature as you make him to be, he would not have made a mess of this planet. Imagine what the Earth was like when man was no better than monkey and what it is now. You have decimated countless species of fellow creatures and made others’ lives miserable. Your own food is poisoned, your water undrinkable and your air not fit enough to be breathed in. Do I need to say more?’
KAGA BHUSHAUNDI SPEAKETH
Suman K Sharma
‘Kagaji, for God’s sake, here we were talking of man’s journey deep into the space and you have started recounting his faults and failures!’
‘Yes, I have, and for good reason. Now that man has acquired capability to peep into the Parlok – the worlds beyond, he must pay attention to righting the wrongs with his own Lok – the Mother Earth as well.’
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