It is the Narali Pournima Day today. Actually, that is more of a Maharashtrian festival than the Rakhsha Bandhan which is more a hand-me-down from the Bollywood films. Sure, though, it is now as important a festival in the family-scape as the Bhaubeej. More about it tomorrow.
Today let us talk of the sea as it is the Narali Pournima today. In a way, it marks the end of the monsoon. The raging sea waters , dancing to the tune of the howling winds, start calming down. The fisherman community, that had suspended its seafaring activities due to the marauding monsoon, now hopes to revive its fishing business after a lull of about two months.
To propitiate the sea as god, emerged the custom of ceremoniously offering it a coconut and a puja. As Raju, my brother is a shippie, Papa would always offer the sea a similar puja. I manage with the Mootha as soon as there is some water in that nullah like stream.
I do, moreover, very strongly believe that we desperately need to take care of our coasts and oceanic water bodies. Due to the climate change, the level of the sea water is already rising. Apparently, by end 2025, the Maldives may suffer the hellish misfortune of submersion under the sea water. The country is already appealing to the U.N. to accomodate its citizens not as immigrants, but as naturalised citizens of their new country of adoption. Huge geo-political, socio-economic and emotional problems are thus already awaiting us;
It is a real threat, and not some petty politicking. This threat, moreover, is actually materialising already. An entire country, Tuvalu, is supposedly shifting to Australia by the end of 2025. This Pacific island nation faces a palpable threat of imminent submersion due to the rising sea levels!
Such environment induced victimisation is going to complicate further the immigration issue which is already a bone of contention across continents. Honestly, with the so-called progress develop complex issues that have not merely socio-political ramifications, but deep emotional bo(u)nds as well!
Pratima@ Time we hear and see what the sea is telling us, what with its water level submerging ways of life! Are we soon going to re-live, re-visit the Dwarka disaster in the post-Krishna period?!?
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