In the past 20 years, Nepal has taken up a significant geography of my heart and, year after year, I have been here. Unfortunately, in the past ten years, the people of Nepal have been dealt a series of blows in the form of floods, earthquakes and other situations. They have endured it, and they have bounced back in many ways.
At a moment like this, when a tragic flood has occurred, people try to find reasons, weave philosophies and find mystical explanations as to why this happened. But for the people who really suffered, though they might be off the news channels, the pain of losing their homes and loved ones is not gone yet. So, let us not belittle human suffering by giving philosophies, ideologies or explanations like, “Maybe this is all God’s will”. No, this is a physical phenomenon, ruled by physical laws.
But, why is this happening? There are causes that might be beyond our present control. Environmentalists and activists may be calculating the impact of using diesel or petrol cars on global warming and telling us not to use them or to go electric. But there are missiles being fired in the world, which may be equivalent to a million motorcycles or cars. Wars are being fought by major nations. You cannot calculate the impact of those things.
Everywhere, it is being said that this year has been among the warmest ever. The prediction for 2027 is that it will be the warmest year in the past hundred years. Ice will naturally melt in these conditions. It is a disaster for us, because it is coming our way.
No one expected that a massive portion of a glacier would just fall 4,000 feet down the peak. But now that it has happened, we must look into it because this is not something a small nation like Nepal can solve by itself. It will get the beating, but the problem and the cause for this are all over the world.
Let me put this into a simple equation. Water is mostly stored in three different places on the planet. One is the ocean, which is a large water body that everyone can see. Another is the soil, which holds eight times more water than all the rivers on the planet put together. The third is the ice and snow on the mountains. As the planet warms year by year, this ice will end up in the ocean. As the equation of water on the planet changes, these kinds of events will continue to happen.
This is not a time to point fingers at anybody. But it is important we understand that all this is caused by human activity, and we need to address this as humanity. We need to understand that we are a tiny little life on this planet, but if we come together, we can do better.
It is important that a calamity of this nature and volume is not left just to the Nepal government. The world bodies must participate in this. If we keep thinking, “This is Nepal’s problem, let them handle it”, there will never be a solution.
The borders that human beings create are for administrative purposes, but as far as nature is concerned, the mountains have no political affiliation. It is time a Himalayan board came up where, even if nations have separate political administrations, they can work in consultation so that the Himalayas are looked at cohesively as a feature that needs to be protected for future generations. This is the only way towards a comprehensive solution.
Sadhguru, a yogi, mystic and visionary, has been conferred the Padma Vibhushan for exceptional and distinguished service.
