28 Aug 2008
9:57 pm IST

Bihar on the edge, cried newspapers today. Kosi river, river of sorrow, changed its course due to heavy rains. 1.2 lakh people had to be evacuated to safer places. The river has already marooned 20 lakh people, all of them villagers, in just a week. It is not uncommon for Bihar to have floods. But a fury like this has never been seen before in this state. Climate change has a way of making refugees out of ordinary people.

Temperature has risen about 0.6 to 0.8 degree centigrade in the course of the 20th century. Researchers predicts that it will raise by 3 to 4 degrees in 21st century. If this happens, solar ice caps will melt faster at an alarming rate. The first country to drown will be this tiny nation called Tuvalu in Pacific Ocean, which is today more famous for its .tv web domain names than for its version of cricket game.

Sunderbans, Houston, Maldives, and our very own Himalayas will all be in great danger. Nature's fury will create millions of climate refugees, it is feared.

We continue to live as if tomorrow never matters. There is nothing wrong in that attitude. We must have hope. We must remain positive. We can choose to ignore probabilities of catastrophe. But can we ignore it to the point that we don't even bother to sit and pray for a few minutes for the 2 million climate refugees of Bihar? Do we care less? Have we become so indifferent? Can you imagine packing all your belongings in a saree or a dhoti in the next thirty minutes and getting out of your house forever? And, when you are indeed forced to get out, can you accept that people in Chennai or Delhi or Mumbai could not be bothered about you while you wade through waters carrying your three year old son on your shoulders, who is crying from several hours of hunger and thirst?

We must have hope. We must remain positive. A smile is a hope. A kind pat on someone's shoulders gives hope. Wishing someone well from the bottom of your heart spreads hope.

As long as we believe in the goodness in each other, there is hope. If we constantly believed in the goodness in us, am pretty certain that we can solve all our problems. In the future, Bihar or Tuvalu, Houston or Mumbai could be threatened by nature yet again. But there will be hope. Let us begin by showing one kind gesture a day. And, if we can show it to that person who hates us most, we spread hope in ourselves. We deserve to be happy, don't we?

--
Be the change,
k.m.e.
"A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history. Gandhiji."