I Am Water – Part 7
By Dr. Rajendra Singh*
(Translated from Hindi by Deepak Parvatiyar, Member, World Water Council)
Also read:
- The story of water – 1
- The story of water – 2
- The story of water – 3
- The story of water – 4
- The story of water–5
- The story of water–6
Life of Simplicity
I give birth to civilisations and cultures and I alone destroy them. My magnitude and omnipresence is distinguished in the form of neer (water)-nari (woman)-nadi (river). I make, enhance, and move civilisations and cultures. I travel hundreds of kilometres by becoming vapour in atmosphere. I walk for many miles on the surface of the earth. I walk for only a few meters in glaciers and in the snow in poles. In the sea I keep moving every single moment.
I am the driver of natural cycles. I give shape to Earth. I also provide energy. I give life to living creatures. I use earth’s gravitation and sun’s energy for everyone. Also I alone do development, migration, distortion and destruction. By burning in fire and dealing in soil, I distribute every thing in its basic form. With pressure, current, pollution, I do destruction. When I have good qualities, I create life. With my bad qualities, I take life. Whenever I have shortage or excess of minerals, salt, gases and bacteria, then I take the world towards destruction.
Evaporation and condensation are my qualities. I have the knowledge and power to purify myself with the help of Sun and Soil. I understand air’s transactions and biological processes. My slime mould is capable of destroying germs. I remain in liquid form between 0 degree and 100 degree Celsius temperature. I have great power to tolerate and absorb heat.
I can dissolve in different colours including red, blue, purple, green and white. When I move from from an area of lower solute concentration to one of higher solute concentration, then the concentration can be separated from me. There is tension on my surface too. Still I join hands with my friends and move ahead. That is called my capillary action. I change my shape according to my storage vessel.
I can freely become dew drop. I also become bubble. I am music. I keep the world fragrant with my scent. I can climb the tip of a leaf with my own energy. Still I always flow downwards in the slope. My touch tells stories even in darkness. People are reminded of my medicinal value every morning. I have buoyant force which helps animals and plants in remaining alive. The way I help others in their existence, if man also starts doing the same then all will get benefitted.
I am shared by all and so nobody is now worried about me. But I belong to the one who saves me and treats me with compassion. I am equal to everyone. I belong to man, elephant, ant, plants and trees, river, lakes, ponds, sea. I am only for those who respect me, use me with discipline, keep me pure, get me treated, reuse me, protect and conserve me for natural regeneration.
But there has been a great rise in numbers of those who are encroaching me, polluting me, and exploiting me. That is why today I show my anger in form of floods and droughts. This poses danger to earth, nature, and mankind. I can save them from this danger so respect me and protect greenery to make me crawl and then settle down in the belly of earth and don’t get stolen by sun, by increasing the number of water structures, and respecting rivers, lakes, ponds, oceans. This is the basic requirement to make me shun my anger. Greenery slows down my flow speed. I run in rains. Greenery and obstacles in the slope makes me crawl. Then I settle down in the womb of mother earth. Then I don’t evaporate, don’t flow, and succeed in fulfilling everybody’s need.
I cannot satisfy anybody’s greed but I am capable of satisfying everybody’s need. The modern world is encroaching me and polluting me. It is exploiting me at all levels. That is why the world is getting more and more unsettled in face of my scarcity. Where I am conserved, Africans and Asians are moving there. At these places, because of population pressure, and demographical changes, threat of war is looming large. I don’t make people fight but help in keeping them together. But the rising pressure on me has made me ineffective. That is why in my name the world has started breaking.
The world can be saved only by way of understanding me, conserving me, and making others learn skillful handling of me. The only I will be able to fulfil the need of the world. If I am unable to fulfil the need of the world, then the world will start fighting for me.
This war will be fought between brothers. It will be fought in villages, in towns. It will be fought between rich and poor of irrigated and non-irrigated regions, and between farmers and industrialists as well. For me, the third world war has begun. This war can be stopped only with the help of water-literacy. Climate change has resulted in migration across the globe. This migration will be the reason for war. Learn from me how to avoid it.
Even though I create and sustain life, I always flow downwards. To give life to others, I get into the roots of trees and climb upwards and reach the tip of the topmost leaf. The first lesson one can learn from me is that of modesty. Second, I create and sustain life of all.
I share my warmth with everyone. I end my existence as I give away my warmth and energy to others for making them exist and live. I also cure those who are crippled because of my absence. Despite assuming different roles in this world, I am the same. I make water and universe a single entity.
My shape and form keeps changing for the world. I make life colourful by becoming life, livelihood, and conscience. Those, in whose eyes and heart I live, they become compassionate and are ready to give everything to help others. I live in the eyes of poor.
My presence in the heart of the rich makes him melt with pity. Although now while I am living in the eyes of the poor, I am disappearing from the heart of the rich. But without me, even the rich cannot live. I am alone the great leveller. I teach equality to everyone.
Concluded
*Dr. Rajendra Singh is an internationally acclaimed water conservationist and is also known as the Waterman of India. The views expressed are personal.
