It was a lazy Sunday as usual as I got up after a “Lie in” on the 26th of December 2004. After the cursory reading of the news paper, I switched on the television to watch the dramatic events unfold.
A massive earthquake was recorded of the western coast of Sumatra Islands and it brought a huge tidal wave, which simply smashed civilization off the coast of many countries including India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Maldives.
What followed were reports of untold misery in all these regions. Children along with women and men of all ages faced a watery grave as the tidal waves showed no partiality in taking them in its wake.
At the point of writing this, a total of around 45,000 lives have been lost and many of the cities and villages affected along the Indian Ocean coasts were still searching for their loved ones although not much of hope is left of finding the missing persons alive.
Without doubt, this has been one of the greatest calamities that mankind has had to face. Right now, there is a deep sense of despondency amongst the people all over the region. Questions are being raised as to whether the governments could have reduced the calamity by evacuating people to safer areas. The people themselves are at a loss to find out how to go about their lives after having lost many of their loved ones, their homes and their livelihood.
But as in all other natural disasters this one too is a good teacher, provided we mortals can forget our ego and keenly learn from what nature has to teach. If we can see in each and every blow that nature has struck on mankind, we can easily spot the following patterns:
1) Nature knows no discrimination. It does not separate men from women and hence has no gender bias. It is not racist since people of all skin colors suffer in equal measure.
2) It has a definite method to its madness. It may seem that nature has a cruel streak in it since it even does not spare innocent children. One just has to understand that there is a definite force beyond the intellectual capacity of the human beings and it is not comprehensible by us. It is a question of how much time we actually have with us to spend on earth before death takes us away from loved ones. Thus it has no bearing on the fact that so many innocent lives were lost in what seems to be a cruel blow from nature. Those who perished simply had completed their time on earth.
3) Natural calamities have been there right throughout the history of mankind. Great famines and floods have destroyed civilizations strong and powerful. It is to the credit of mankind that we have now used our intellect to greatly reduce the damage, but it again goes to prove that the more human kind wanders away from nature, the greater the chances that they may perish in their futile attempts to conquer it.
When I present these points, some of you may take cudgels against me and ask “Are we supposed to be living the life the way nature dictates to us?” or may ask “Are all human effort pointless since anyway nature can strike its powerful blow and reduce civilization to a point of no existence?”
Though your points are valid, there are some things which I would like to clarify.
1) Human life is as precious as the lives of other beings on this planet.
2) Even though at this point of time many people have lost their entire live savings, their families and their hope, human beings have shown that their resilience is unsurpassed when it comes to coping with calamities. The human race has survived many calamities in the past both man-made and natural and has only emerged stronger.
3) Time is the greatest healer of all human miseries. No matter how big the tragedy has been, over the period of time, people pick up their pieces and move on. Those who cannot cope up simply perish, since nature only allows the fit ones to live on, be it the case of physical strength or mental strength.
4) Nature can sustain mankind only for it needs not for its greed. The more the greed the greater the devastation would be. A case in point is the way landslides have been happening in the Nilgiri hills in South India. Unprecedented construction activities on the hill slopes and with the forest land exposed to the elements due to deforestation means that there is a tragedy which is just waiting to happen.
5) Mankind should definitely pursue its goals of development, but which is sustainable and does not affect other beings on earth. The earlier mankind realizes this, the better it would be for the entire planet. Mankind has a greater potential to destroy the Earth in its present form than any natural calamity. So much more needs to be done with the help of human efforts to alleviate sufferings of the sick and the poor rather than embark on ambitious projects like cloning and missions to outer space.
So where is the question of the Natural living? Nothing more exemplifies this than our scriptures. Be it the Vedas or the teachings of Buddha, all of these tell us how to lead our lives co-existing with nature. It shows us what professions one can undertake, what can cause harm to nature, how to have sustained economic development without damaging the nature.
It is practically not possible to have a change in human attitudes over time. But the earlier we realize and adopt a sustainable, non-damaging lifestyle in tune with what nature has to offer in our regions, the better it would be. Life may look pointless and meaningless and human beings may look tiny against the forces of nature during these trying times, but if we take it as a learning exercise, show courage in the face of adversity, try to understand and accept nature the way it is, we have a lot of scope for improvement. But in case we don’t and try to live a life of ever increasing materialistic nature, a watery or a fiery end awaits us. The apocalypse is not an act of God, it is just the question of time before events happen and the apocalypse takes place and it is “We” human beings who are causing the events all the time. I can only remember the words of the song “Zindagi, Kaisi yeh paheli hai haye!” and shake my head in grief for those who perished.
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