HOW SWEET HER NAME IS Dr C.V ANANDA BOSE

 

17. HOW SWEET HER NAME IS

What is in a name, asked Shakespeare. Here are some beautiful names—Tsunami, Katrina, El Nino, Nancy. How sweet the names are.  But ask those people who have come into contact with them. We have been witness to the death dance of the Tsunami. And watched on TV the ferocious playfulness of Katrina. El Nino and Nancy are two other behemoths.

According to Richard Black it is possible to turn calamities into blessings. But the problem is that like history, calamity also has a propensity to repeat itself. In the areas through which river Mississippi flows the havoc wrought by typhoons, and the floods that come in their wake, is a recurring phenomenon. But it appears as if man does not learn anything from experience.

Katrina had her danse macabre this time also on the banks of river Mississippi. About 85 per cent of New Orleans was submerged. This town would have been destroyed by the heavy floods of 1927 when Mississippi was in spate but the city was saved then because of a crucial decision taken by the administration. They used dynamite to open up a new way for the overflowed river to drain into the sea. There was stiff opposition to the decision as many people feared that many houses would be washed away by the sudden surge of waters. But ignoring all protests the authorities went ahead with their decision.

The havoc caused by floods is a cause of perennial sorrow for America. It was suriprising that a nation with tremendous resources and technological excellence could not put in place the necessary infrastructure to effectively check natural calamities. The truth is that neither man’s intelligence and imagination nor physical and economic might can overwhelm natural forces. Mississippi flows gently reminding the Americans of this eternal truth on an off. When occasionally it dons its angry face the hapless millions living on either side begin their plaints and pleadings to god. The length of the Mississippi is 6,300 km. From its origins in a lake in upper Minnesota, the river surges ahead on its winding course all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. In its lengthy course it is replenished by over a thousand small rivers, streams and rivulets.

From time to time efforts had been taken to rein in Mississippi in spate. Such efforts received an impetus with the formation of the Mississippi River Commission. After the great floods of 1922 the commission implemented various protective measures. The Commission also proclaimed that such measures were adequate to effectively check damages caused by floods.

But proving that natural forces could not be overwhelmed, the Mississippi rose in spate, washing away in no time the hapless people and their houses and other property on either bank. As many as 75,000 houses were destroyed. Millions of acres of farmlands were laid waste. At some places in Illinois water level rose as high as 56 ft. In Arkansas when the floodwater came the mules engaged in transporting goods drowned then and there. A group of people on the bridge across Arkansas River had to remain there in horror for as many as three days before rescue efforts could reach them. Over 300,000 refugees had to be accommodated in relief camps. Three hundred people were killed. The calamity made the authorities to wake up. More effective protective measures were taken. Bunds and spillways were constructed. And they assured the people that they need not have any fear any more. But in 1937 and 1973 Mississippi repeated its dance of death. A study by Louisiana University showed that the quantum of water in the Mississippi had increased by 250 per cent during the last fifty years. In the contest with nature man is accepting his inevitable defeat.

Worse than the floods was the case of combined malice of hurricanes and the floods that went with it. In the coastal regions of America this was not at all a rare phenomenon. In both Louisiana and New Orleans what the people faced at the beginning of this century was an emergency like that. It was some relief that the people had been forewarned. Old timers might be remembering the nightmares caused by hurricanes that came without warning and devastated vast stretches.

In 1938 the hurricane that hit with all its might laid waste a stretch of 523 km from New York to Boston, killing over 600 people and destroying a staggering 60,000 houses. Huge tidal waves spewed destruction in Connecticut and Rhode Island. Weather forecasters had seen signs of a hurricane the previous day but they were of the view that its impact would be confined to Florida. And they thought that since Florida had often experienced big and small hurricanes, the people had the necessary training to overcome the situation. But disproving all theories of science, the hurricane hit the coastal regions of America with all its might. Waves rose by 40 ft. People on the ground were swept away. What people on upper floors of buildings saw was the ferocious waves uprooting huge trees and drawing them away into the innards of the sea? With the disruption in telephone and telegraph network, links with the outside world were snapped. A bus carrying children was washed away by the waves. Only one child survived. Many saw in horror the light house on Rhode Island being swept away by giant waves. As though the devastation was not enough, fire broke out in some buildings, spreading fast because of the strong winds. The fire engines that managed to enter flood waters could not do anything as their way was blocked by waves and the wind.

Are natural calamities merely natural phenomenon? Perhaps scientists and materialists may argue that way. But a majority of the people who believe that there are some unseen powers controlling the universe may see in the natural calamities deep and complex meanings. When the negativism in man’s approach to nature crosses limits nature itself gives an exemplary punishment. This is a belief prevalent in many civilizations. We believe that when earth cannot bear the weight of all its sinners, Kalki comes with drawn sword as the slayer incarnate. There is another belief that the great flood came to put an end to the sinful life of man. There are widespread legends that whole cities and other human habitations had totally disappeared in massive floods and eruptions of the seas. The belief is that towards the close of the Dwapara Yuga the Yadava clan brought annihilation on itself because of intense infighting among its members and that Sri Krishna’s capital Dwaraka was engulfed by the surging seas. These may be legends but they rouse the epic concepts of the Hindu community. The fabulous city of Atlantis that disappeared in the sea and the imaginary land of El Dorado still excite the anxiety of researchers. This is our realisation when we go from the realm of beliefs to the borderlands of science. The increase in nature’s temperature levels is because of the flaws in the life style of modern man. This adversely affects the climate. The sea level increases uncontrollably and calamities like floods and turbulence of the sea occur. If the situation continues like this the cities like London, New York, Chennai and Bangkok will be submerged by the sea, warn the scientists.

Whether it is belief or rationalism, what transpires is one and the same. If you attempt to break the vitals of nature, retribution is certain. And this affects the very existence of humanity. It is clear, therefore, that the brutish style of ‘might is right’ does not have the approval of nature. That is the expert advice given to us jointly by Tsunami and Katrina along with El Nino and Nancy.

It is true that the authorities did have sufficient warnings about the impending doom. One cannot but point it out as lapse if they failed to take precautionary measures even after receiving such warnings. A lengthy article in the National Geographic Magazine of October 2004 had made a specific reference to the hurricane that was going to hit New Orleans. The U S Federal Government had in fact assessed this as the biggest calamity in recent times. The warnings of scientists were also there. Long ago a movement named Neo-tropical Storm Risk had warned of hurricanes in this region 22 times. Scientists have come to the conclusion that it was global warming that aggravated the hurricane systems. Kerry Immanuel, a researcher in the famed Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) had found that the destructive power of the hurricanes had doubled during a period of three years. The reason for this was the increase in surface temperature by just 0.05 degree Celsius. Do not forget that it is America that is mainly responsible for global warming. When natural calamities recur because of excesses committed by men we think of the biblical sentence. ‘And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.’ In brief it means we fall into the pit dug by us ourselves.