Ten Jharkhand boys out fishing in Damodar river had to cling for dear life to a concrete platform in the midst of the turbulent river for over eight hours before they could be rescued around mid-night. The incident occurred because the river had got swollen as a sluice gate was opened at the Tenughat Dam in Bokaro district. The teenagers were luckier than a batch of young engineering students from Hyderabad and their tour guide who were washed away in the river Beas when water from Larji Dam was released without warning. The incidents brought to my mind how seawalls erected by the Japanese government failed to protect nuclear power reactors at Daiichi and Daini, causing overheating and partial melt-downs – said to be Japan’s worst nuclear disaster. Why is man so vulnerable before nature’s forces, I wondered.
‘Silly question, son,’ said Kaga Bhushundiji, ‘It’s like asking why you stand so low below the skies rising so high.’
‘Kagaji, for your Ramji’s sake, give me space. Who let you in while I was ruminating on man’s condition?’
‘I am the Crow Eternal. I come and go as I please. And what’s there to ruminate about man’s condition, hain? He is a creature of nature behaving as if he were outside the realm of nature. I marvel at his hauteur and pity his helplessness.’
Kaga Bhushundi SpeakEth
Suman K Sharma
‘You may fault him for his pride, Master Crow, but man has outdone nature in ways more than one. Neither his puny stature in comparison to humongous pachyderms on the land and gigantic whales in the deep, nor his slow pace before the nimble-footed cheetahs or the fastest flying falcons, have come in his way of conquering the earth, the sky and what lies in the deepest depths of the seas. And mind you, if the ability to make and use tools, solve problems, communicate intelligibly and work as a team were the only requisites for mastering this planet, then wise chimpanzees and gorillas – with their added gifts of a sharper vision, acuter hearing and, a hairy body that needed no extra covering – would have enslaved our tender-limbed, soft-bodied and bare-skinned ancestors…..’ I paused for a breath before going on with the recital about man’s supremacy over the earth. ‘I am listening, son,’ said Kagaji, giving me the look of an eager crow.
‘Man today is reaching distant stars. Instant communication across limitless space is now a mere routine. To meet his requirements of energy, man employs water, air, sun and fossil fuel – and when these fall short, he runs his cities on nuclear power. Fearful diseases like plague and cholera has he wiped out from the face of the earth. Transplantation of vital organs to give the dying a new lease of life is an old story. The latest is that it is now possible for an unborn babe to have two biological mothers and a father, one of the mothers contributing to it her healthy mitochondria to eliminate the chances of the baby developing mitochondrial diseases such as muscular dystrophy and some disorders of heart and liver at a later stage. Man may be a product of nature, as you say, Kagaji, but he is the only one who has created as many as 20 elements that do not occur in nature. And then there is plastic, the ubiquitous artefact of our present-day culture that is conjoining with natural minerals to form rocks. Men may come and men may go; but plastic will be here forever.’
‘Ram, Ram,’ exclaimed Kagaji, ‘man is trifling with nature’s order! Didn’t Poet Bhartrihari say, “Not knowing the power of flame, the insect falls into it!'”
‘Man is not some dumb insect that meets its doom mindlessly. He alters the course of nature with deliberation to protect and promote his own interests.’
‘That indeed is the cause of concern, son – this portentous capability of man. For nature, you know, is a mean competitor. Consider just the last hundred years. You got nuclear power and along with it came the nuclear holocaust of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Plague and small pox were eradicated, but mankind is now faced with much more deadlier diseases like AIDS. The rapid breakthrough in communications connected everyone with everyone else; only to leave people too busy with their Androids and the TV to talk to a relative or friend sitting in front of them. Your dams harness water; and also bring with them the lasting threat of devastating floods down-stream….’
‘Then do you mean to say, Kagaji, that man should stop improving his lot and live passively like any other critter?’
‘No, I don’t mean that. Man must realize his potential to the fullest, only that he should be cautious of the forces he is dealing with. Any foolhardiness on his part can prove ruinous to him.’
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