When I was in high school, we had a poem in our English syllabus called 'The River' by A.K. Ramanujam. The poet describes how human beings in their pursuit of riches exploits a river and when the latter unable to take any further agony, strikes back it is pure devastation for the mankind. So the inference was that even nature can take revenge.
Natural calamities has always been there since Noah's ark but are they really be taken as nature's revenge or a question of man's inability to harness it adequately which underlines the point that whatever height of achievements man reaches it can never control the nature and its' elements.
I am not undermining the strength of human potential, it would be against my faith in me. But after the cyclone in Orissa, tsunami in Dec 2004 in most of South Asia, earthquake in Gujarat in 2005, hurricane in USA in 2005 and now the flood in most of north and west India, is it not time to pause and ponder the inevitable question as to how far the human fraternity should tread on nature's arena. It has nothing to do with ceasing all developmental activities but definitely a review with correct perspective of doing the work is desirable.
I want us to go ahead with our construction of dams, canals , roads and other necessary infrastructure but on the same hand I am totally against the rising population, the deforestation, polluting of natural water bodies and each of those activities which harm our natural heritage without adding anything substantial to our life.
