Put a stop to the drop

It is said the wars of the 21st Century will be fought over water. Aren’t we seeing it to be true in the near future? We all know the importance of water in our lives. Can we ever imagine a world sustaining life without water? The thought itself is so daunting.

Of all the five elements of nature, water is the most primary, which impacts human life at many levels and it’s provided to us in abundance by Mother Nature, totally free. It is synonymous with life, for, when scientists search for traces of life in other planets, they first look for signs of water.

The earth can sustain so many life forms because seventy per cent of the earth’s surface is covered with water, which is consumed directly or indirectly through the food chain and various life-supporting activities. It is a carrier of oxygen, which sustains life and bears a variety of minerals that boost health, agriculture and cleanses impurities. Water bodies are also home to a large number of flora and fauna that help in maintaining ecological balance. One of its most vital sustainable aspects is in the form of water cycle, which transforms salty seawater into clean water through rain and snowfall.

Water gets polluted when it comes in contact with soluble impurities, unlike fire which devastates everything that comes in its contact. Hence, of all the five elements, water is the closest metaphor for human life, because like water, human souls are also highly impressionable and degradable. They can become a deity or a demon while interacting with the environment.

In the Golden Age, when human souls were utter chaste and downright innocent, their thoughts, words and mannerisms were within the bounds of the highest codes of conduct, as a result all the elements functioned with inborn harmony and in innate regulation. Rivers never crossed banks, rains never flooded lands, and the sun, air and earth, all gave plentiful resources to humankind, but never caused any calamity or damage.

However, with increasing human greed and ego, there has been a rampant destruction of natural order. Rising mental degeneration leading to unmindful acts has led to environmental erosion on a massive scale with appalling effect. It is a well-known fact that deforestation and toxic release from various industries, consumerism and ever- increasing population have led to a drastic imbalance with devastating impact on the environment. It is so pathetic to see that today in many areas people do not have access to clean drinking water, which is the basic necessity for sustenance of life, as a result of which even riots get triggered due to water scarcity, thereby leading to major disputes between state governments, over the control of water bodies.

Days are not far off when a war will blow up between two countries over sharing of precious water. Hence, it’s high time that we humans learn from these warning signals of nature and change our ways of living, first of all by changing our attitudes and lifestyle.