Poem : The Rain Dance

The Rain Dance

I sit next to the window pane,

The rain, it has started once again,

The mist and froth blows across my face,

And the rain drops fall down like beads on a lace.

A crow pheasant sits in my neighbour’s garage,

Drying herself after the rain disturbed her plumage,

And the old and yellow leaves of my jackfruit tree have begun to fall,

Twisting, twirling and dancing through it all.

The blue mountains play their game of hide and seek,

With the clouds hiding them and filling up their creeks,

And the frogs and toads seems to croak on and on,

Oblivious of my grandmother’s disapproving frown.

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With all this beauty around,

There is no place else I’ll sit than the one I have found,

And there is nothing else I’d rather do,

Than sit and write poetry for me and you.

Mukund Palat Rao (August 27, 2011)

“It really doesn’t matter that much”

“It really doesn’t matter that much”

Is climate change for real? Are the oceans really rising and the glaciers shrinking? While most of would definitely answer the above questions in the affirmative there are still many amongst us who would still say that they aren’t that sure. They call themselves the ‘Climate Change Sceptics’.

As has been rightly pointed out if we look at the history of mass extinctions we would learn that right now we are in the midst of the sixth major mass extinction. So, obviously there have been changes in the earth’s climate before this right? Yes, that is true; but that’s not the whole story.

It has been estimated that within the last five hundred years, at least eighty mammal species have gone extinct; this from a starting total of approximately 5,570 species. Now compare this to the average extinction rate for mammals of less than two for every million years. I am sure you don’t need any help with the math; it’s clear as daylight that the present rate of extinction is far greater than the average extinction rate previously. The other question is the reason behind this extinction? I’m am pretty sure, climate sceptic or not there is absolutely no doubt that this extinction is anthropogenic. In case of any lingering doubts one can easily check into the history behind the extinction of the dodos, the Javan and the Caspian tigers, the cheetahs in India and numerous other plant and animal species (even if the example was about the extinction of mammals this phenomenon is not limited to mammals alone).

Then should you be worried? Allow me to digress a bit and explain this with a short story. There is an oft quoted example where the earth is compared to an aeroplane and human beings to mechanics. We sit inside the aeroplane and then slowly start to unfasten all the screws in the whole aeroplane. Let us say, we start from the inside first and get rid of all the seats. No doubt the aeroplane will still fly. We then continue our experiment for a little while further and keep testing each time if the aeroplane still flies. Slowly once we had rid ourselves of all trivial screws we will eventually need to start medalling with the screws that keep the whole structure together. Eventually we reach a point where every new screw unfastened could be our last. If we go ahead and unscrew both engines the result is quite obvious. It isn’t going to matter that there are still so many screws left to unfasten. The whole system is definitely going to crash. Now, to explaining why I used this metaphor. Compare each screw lost to a species gone. The disappearance of one species isn’t obviously going to bring to whole eco-system down. However, slowly as more species start to disappear the web of life would start to become unsustainable. The predator-prey relationships would begin to become skewed favouring one side over the other, in the end leading to a dramatic collapse of the whole complex web of life. This is not taking into account the fact that most niche species and species in symbiotic relationships would be dead long before we ever got to this stage. 

http://www.bigelow.org/edhab/fitting_algae.html

http://www.bigelow.org/edhab/fitting_algae.html

Victor Summerhayes and Charles Elton's 1923 food web of Bear Island

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EltonFW.jpg

Then is conservation important? Altruism isn’t a trait everyone is blessed with. Why worry about saving the earth, conserving minerals and electricity etc.? If I have the money then what pray is your problem, aye? The wars on oil don’t directly affect me; they are being fought in far-away lands. Just ensure that it still remains affordable and cheap. Kill as many as you want for it! Why should the displacement of tribal people in some distant and remote place bother me? I need those rare earth metals, for my music player to work don’t I?    

There are economists who claim that the cost of investing into green and eco-friendly technologies will cripple us so much that financially most large industries will have to shut shop. I don’t claim to know too much economics but I am sure that money spent on investing in better effluent discharge, better energy efficiencies etc. will probably do more good than harm. It has been proven worldwide that it is better to invest in more efficient technology now and pay less every month on maintenance than ending up footing higher recurring costs. If you add to it other benefits like lower particulate emissions, and less toxic discharges, it makes more sense to go green than to resist. The motivation really doesn’t matter; you could be an environmentalist or be in it for selfish reasons of leading a more luxurious life.  It is better to conserve now and have something for the future. Think of it as an investment. What is likely to be in high demand a decade from now will also obviously also fetch you a good price a decade from now too.

Here is one of the most persuasive letters to the editor I have read in recent times. The reply was to an article by Friedman in the New York Times titled, “Is it Weird Enough Yet?” Here is an excerpt from it; 

“The French philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal, in what has become known as Pascal’s wager, suggested that even people who did not believe in God should act as if they did, since being wrong could be catastrophic.

I would say to the climate skeptics[sic]: If you do not believe in climate change but act as if you did, even if you are right, the result would be a society with clean, sustainable jobs, less dependence on Mideast oil and healthier lives. But if you are wrong and we do not act immediately, the results would be catastrophic.”

PHILLIP GOTTSCHALK
Montville, N.J., Sept. 14, 2011

Mukund Palat Rao (September 20, 2011)

P.S Here is two interesting videos you might like to watch

The first video is from the Rio Summit of ’92.

·        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfbqWG88Ems

·        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGeXdv-uPaw&feature=player_embedded

Nadia of the Nile

Nadia of the Nile

This is a story from a long time ago,

A time when I was young and not so very old,

I was in the midst of a journey from Beirut to Tehran,

I had stopped in the desert to rest for the night,

It was cold, it was freezing,

Not a soul could be heard,

I was singing to my camel and putting her to sleep,

Rest was imperative, as from our destination we were still far.

Suddenly out of nowhere a voice awoke me with a start,

Do you mind if I could spend the night in your caravan?

To this I enquired, ‘What name do you go by?’

And then she replied, ‘I am Nadia of the Nile,

I was robbed of my tent in a skirmish by the town,

The wind, it is biting, and I am chilled to the bone,

I think I am injured and can’t carry on.’

I then told her she could spent the night in my tent,

But I secretly kept a sword by my side,

For you never know,

When the enemy is behind your back,

Being the host,

I then gently asked, ‘Would you care for some wine?

Your injuries are deep,

It might get better with the tincture of Iodine?’

And there I was kneeling and tending to her wounds,

There was as shard that was entwined in her back,

Even as I eased it out gently I knew it did hurt,

But from her side not a sinew did twich,

She continued to sit motionless with her clenched her jaw,

Without a sound she just gazed into the fire.

On her these wounds of war didn’t seem like aberrations,

They fit perfectly as a part of a beautiful whole,
With a body so graceful and green eyes so watchful.

In our mirth, we talked and we talked and conversed through the night,

It was cold, it was freezing,

And not a soul could be heard,

And we drew closer and closer until we were one,

But then as I was drifting into a slumber,

She told me she would depart by first light.

I don’t remember the time,

Except a kiss on my cheek,

She mentioned she was leaving and thanked me for everything,

And then she waited till I fell back asleep.

In the morning when I awoke,

I wasn’t sure if it was a dream,

But when I looked around; and I found my things gone,

I knew they had been stolen,

By Nadia of the Nile,

Except my camel now sitting,

With a look so benign.

Beside me lay my empty trunk,

Inside was a note pinned to the front,

It read, ‘I am indeed sorry for what I have done,

My story was true,

And I have no doubt that you saved my life,

Unfortunately I was paid not to leave you alive,

Last night when I came I was in too much pain,

And by the morning light I knew I would never be the same,

I knew I couldn’t kill you,

And I promise you’ll never see me again.’

I wept for my loss but thanked God I was alive,

I knew I was lucky for she didn’t get what she desired,

The papers, they were tied to the foreleg of my camel,

And those in my trunk; they were counterfeit,

But this I did realise that she’d probably have to die,

The fakes that she had obtained, they weren’t worth a dime,

And those who had paid her would slay her in their anger.

I cried for I knew it was because of me she would die,

And if I were dead she would still be alive.

Mukund Palat Rao (August 8, 2011)

It has been a while!

Yes, it has been a long time since you last heard from me. Lots of things have been happening the last couple of months. However not too much of it has had a chance to be reflected on the blog. As you would have noticed the name of the blog has been changed. No longer is the blog 'Wandering and Pondering'. It seems to have found it place in the world and now indulges in 'Ruminative Reminiscence'.

Sometimes even small things have an impact on us. Even if we don't realise it at that time, it is these experiences in the past that make you who you are. There were thoughts that were never expressed consciously and yet they were there, dormant and just waiting to be expressed. Such is the story of the explanation of the blog's title.

Who is the Protector?

Who is the Protector?

Around some corners you still can see,

Lone walls, charred, burnt and crumbling,

Testaments to an old and violent painful past,

Remnants of houses now long deserted,

With its inhabitants either fled elsewhere or killed. 

In odd places in the midst of fields long and wide,

Lie hoards of forgotten and unmarked graves,

A grim reminder that the present carries the burden of the past,

And cannot be washed or wished away.

They say it was all in the name of God,

Heretics and infidels had no right to life,

And that revenge must be sought for unrelated sins.

The murders and rapes were all to appease the Gods,

For they had been insulted and blasphemy was rife,

And yet they considered God an all powerful being,

Omniscient and omnipresent.

This a contradiction in itself,

Why does the Almighty need protection,

From the vagaries of mankind and his daily life?

Mukund Palat Rao (July 6, 2011)