Nature’s wrath, man’s corruption – a volatile mix

There’s destruction at every monsoon and if there is none, it would seem that the monsoon has not set in. Roads get washed away, bridges collapse, places get flooded and lives are lost.

Through the saga that unfolds during the rains, the water sweeps away the dirt, and, in the process, nature forces corruption to surface.

However, the stains of corruption cannot be found everywhere because nature’s fury has its own style of marking its presence. Its fury overrides everything.

Like in the past, this year too, a lot has been physically and spiritually lost. But, the one thing that has stood out this monsoon – till now at least – is the inability of most to learn from experience, and what happened near Lonavala in Pune, and later in Pali in Goa, point to this.

Five people were swept away when they went to visit a waterfall near Bhushi Dam near Lonavala just over a week ago. A four-year-old boy was one of those who lost their lives.

A few days later, around 30 odd people were stranded at a waterfall in Pali, Goa, but luckily there was no tragedy.

Waterfalls are great places during the monsoons, but the incident in Pune told us that they are not the best places to be close to in the rains because the wrath of nature is unpredictable, especially when men literally ignore it. We are what we are because of the nature around us.

The chaos, and subsequent short shrifts in Pali, could have been avoided had those behaved with caution, and the best caution would have been, planning the visit after the rains had subsided.

Whether it is locals or tourists, there are times when we fail to understand, or think stupidly, and let emotions take over. And, that set the tone for the tragedy that happened in Lonavala or what happened at Pali.

The two incidents bring up the question: Is India a country with a majority of educated illiterates? Hopefully, our behaviour this monsoon will prove that it is not as bad as fathomed, but what happened were just irritants that are part of life.

Many parts of Goa got flooded during the last two days, and there was maximum mayhem in areas where trees were cut and where there were signs of double-engine development.

The government, as an afterthought, banned entry to all waterfalls when it had actually declared a ban just before the monsoons, and later partially lifted it making it clear that the right hand does not know what the left is doing because both are soiled with corruption. Now, another ban!

A cynic would say, the monsoon starts where the government has stopped in terms of cutting trees. Trees fall when the weather is bad, houses and other property get damaged but that is nature’s whacking, not made by humans.

Social media has been abuzz with destruction, but it picked up loads of pain from citizens when the news of the crash of a 100-year-old tree in Divar Island started doing the rounds.

Unlike other trees, this one seemed to have a spirit of its own, and perhaps that was one of its unique points.

The tree could not stand the wrath of this monsoon after nature had its way. To the people of the island, it was a signpost of the good old days – the spirit of Comunidade.

After the tree collapsed, many mourned and in the pain, one wise man played with the idea of having a “crowd funding to grow a replacement tree on the same spot with permission from the authorities”.

Charlie Chaplin once said: “Time is the great author. Always writes the perfect ending.”

Just like Chaplin suggests, time resolves things in its own way, nature too has a healing power, but it requires that we mend our ways and allow it its rightful space.