Thank You, Mother Nature

Musings

Dr Rajagopal Soondron

You surprised us, Mother.

How, sonny?

You came out of the blue and struck us in between the eyes to dismantle our civilization and economic well-being.

No Sonny. I am just reminding you all that it’s your natural way of life. You will strive to make 10 fast steps forward – then one day you will wake up and find yourself being forced unwillingly backward in 9.5 steps. By so doing you will come face to face with the uncertainties of life, thereby stimulating you to gather various experiences for future happiness, Sonny. It’s the law of biological evolution.

So that’s why you sent us this notorious CV, Mother?

Yes, Sonny. Are you not happy that nowadays parents are spending more time with their children at home – re- establishing family life, maybe playing cards, domino, chess and conversing? Children are being pampered by parents after months of close living? Are you not happy that less and less pollution — noise and dust pollution — is happening and carbon dioxide will thus fall significantly from the atmosphere? It is happening after ages. Very few planes are taking off to the air – and as they contribute to a lot of atmospheric degeneration. Is it not a progress, Sonny?

For once the airports are quieter, men and women have stopped rushing about like crazy people to amass fortune at the expense of their psychologically weaker compatriots; now they may have more time to look around to watch the morning sun rising through their window, to listen to birds twittering in the tree tops, with some drizzle falling and dancing on the nearby lawn. You will stare as long as sheep and cows. You have suddenly realized that you could do without a lot of those semi-synthetic toxic foods, environment invasion by motor vehicles, unbridled crazy social events and all those excesses promoted by the multinational sharks – trying to con all of you so as to feed their egoism; all of which you have come to call progress. Possibly now you would think twice before you would kill those dumb friends of yours, after witnessing those food markets in the East. Are you not happy that all this is happening, Sonny?

Compassionate beings

No, Mother Nature — all these happened at the expense of thousands of people who are dying at this very moment.

Oh Sonny, did you want to make an omelette without breaking an egg? Don’t you know that previous famines, droughts and wars had all eliminated some people for the good of the survivors? Did not the aftermath of the bubonic plague (mid-14th century) and the 1919 Spanish Flu see the elimination of overpopulation — hence giving the living more breathing space, more potable water and more food ? Did not your society, Sonny, see improvement in standard of living after those catastrophes — whereby you achieved more material progress, comfort and an increase in your GDP?

Did not your experts calculate that this blue planet can support optimally some 2 billion people comfortably — yet you have gone on multiplying to 7.6 billions? Where will you get the food and water to support them? It’s simple logic, Son. And you go on supporting those religious concepts that you people must go on multiplying to satisfy the edits of your artificial Gods? Can you be so unwise? Must I not abide by my own billion old plans — keeping a check on the expansion of your population — by eliminating the weaklings?

Yes, Mother Nature – but at what cost! What tragedies!

Oh, now you are waking up. There is no free lunch, my Son.

I know, but can’t you be considerate, generous and more magnanimous, Mother?

Oh, you forgot that my way of functioning is to eliminate the redundant. I protect the fitter individuals, the more robust at the expense of the weak so that the average will always climb up to a more solid standard. But you, Son, what did you do? You revive the dying, you keep the weak babies alive as long as possible, you go on caring for those poor kids with congenital diseases, you love those with genetic defects as never before. Well, I meant them to fade away, Sonny… so that the healthier one can survive and lead the fight against all odds. Most of those weaklings who survived would find life to be a real tragedy and hell, Sonny. Do you want to be in their place Sonny?

But Mother, we have become humane now! We have finer feelings and emotions, we are highly sensitive; we are intelligent. We cannot stand around and watch our children and the less capable being eliminated without putting up a fight.

Yes, Sonny. I always wonder from where you inherited that sensitivity that loves business. Is it from Him?

Who’s that, Mother?

He — the universe. All that has never been part of my strategy. Sonny, have you noticed that the cleverer you become the more cruel you also tend to be — learning to eliminate your other friends by greater ruse, inventing all sorts of arms of destruction and biological weapon as you progress: do you call this love and magnanimity Sonny?

Sonny, don’t worry, your intelligence will lead you to an anti-vaccine to Covid-19; and you will discover that it is no worse than the common yearly flu you know all about already — but meanwhile I am sure that shake off I have given you will lead you all to appreciate the fragile nature of existence. There will be new administrative, health, financial approaches to life. Your psychology will take a blow — for the better; now you will react differently. Some of you will come back to my fold; many will start economizing in memory of that present setback.

Having regressed by 9.5 steps, you will yet again start going forward with a new concept of the uncertainties of life. You will come to appreciate it differently, realizing that in spite of all your differences you are all alike and are prone to the same natural risks. CV has taught you that there are no artificial borders and frontiers. You will come to respect my minute viral product, always waiting for a new version of it to surface at any time again. You will remember your present predicament for long; it will leave a psychological scar. It will induce your brain to think differently – opening new neural dormant pathways. That’s evolution for you, Sonny.

The Karmic Law

Why frighten us so much, Mother? You seem to take ‘malin plaisir’ to scare the wit out of us, decimating our economy and rendering us poorer. The poor will become poorer and will continue suffering, be less happy and die prematurely.

Oh Sonny, it’s the price to pay for going too fast – for exploiting me to produce all sorts of pleasurable devices, to push yourselves to the limit to extract maximum of pleasure from the environment. You have invented ‘taste’ and become a slave to it – wanting to prove yourself beyond limit, to tell others that you are better than them, just to be different. And to achieve that egoistical status, you are ready to denature me beyond recognition. There’s always a price to pay, my Son.

But Mother, you could spare us so much stress and unhappiness.

Yes Sonny, but I know no other way to do it. Can you become more simple, more natural – so that you stop insulting me to cultivate that extremely impersonal synthetic, artificial way of life, Sonny?

I have no choice – its action and reaction, my job is to react… it’s the karmic law, for I am also part of it. Until next time, Good Luck Sonny.

Thanks for the lesson, Mother.


* Published in print edition on 1 April 2020

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