ChinmayC Blog

Climate change and global warming are by now household words, and more frighteningly, the impact of these terms have been cruelly discernible in the daily lives of the citizens in many parts of India and the world. The world leaders must understand the deadly reality of our only habitat getting hotter and hotter by the day, and if this is not checked immediately by whatever possible means in our command this planet is set to be uninhabitable very soon, sooner than we think. The South West Monsoon, still the mainstay of agriculture in India, has been uneven this year in the extremes—some traditionally dry regions getting excess rains to a huge extent, some regions getting their full quota delivered in a matter of days and some traditionally wet regions still not having a monsoon with its usual flow and downpours. Therefore, in all such cases the monsoon is not helping the farmers at all, and on the other hand, people in many areas with scarce rainfall are suffering from continuous heat ...

Lord Shiva is believed to be the most powerful God in the Hindu Trinity with Brahma and Vishnu. Lord Shiva is described as a destroyer and also a recreator and transformer. He is also referred to as Mahadeva or Maheshwar—the Great God. In his benevolent form he lives like a simple householder with his family of other Hindu Gods and Goddesses and spends His time in Kailash with the simplicity of an ascetic. But when He is angry, he becomes the Destroyer in which form he can obliterate demons, impurities in human minds and even the whole world. He is everywhere like any other omnipotent and omnipresent God. You can find Him in your heart, in the environs of your home and do your prayers accordingly; and if you want to worship Him in the form of an idol you can install a Shivling or Shiva Linga, the mark or sign or symbol of Lord Shiva, in your home or visit a temple or a shrine or a place of worship even under a big tree that are found almost in every locality in India. There are even ar...

Natural calamities, plagues, epidemics and pandemics are considered as destined acts of God while other disastrous happenings like major fires, blasts, pollution, climate change degeneration of all kinds and so on are considered acts of humans. Cases like famine come in-between: depending on the exact cause of its spread, if it was due to God-made natural disasters or man-made follies or inequalities, famine can either be God-willed or acts of humans. However, such interpretation creates a conflict of interest between believers and non-believers or atheists, because the onus on God for those acts would not be acceptable to the atheists who would say everything in the universe is in a continual state of being with only cosmic cause and effect. If we bring in Nature or Mother Nature, then, perhaps, a common ground can be reached, because Nature is indeed a state of being and its forces have always been recognized by all of humankind: that humans are nothing to the immense powers of natu...

The heavy showers in Mumbai city and some adjacent area in the first week of July seemed to indicate that the monsoon finally caught the rhythm and we hoped that rains would be regular for the rest of the season. But no, the inexplicable unwillingness to pour showed up again from mid-July, particularly in areas of Thane district. The skies, as in the month of June, remained mostly gloomy with floating clouds contributing to the uncomfortable humidity. Even though the temperatures were below 33 degree Celsius the real feel with 80—90% humidity was around 38 degree! At times, the skies blackened hopefully with occasional soothing sounds of thunder, but mostly it petered out without pouring. There were, of course, a few incidents of showers, but not up to the desired intensity and consistency. And now, the obvious happened! Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) announced a 20% water cut from 5 th August, valid not only for Mumbai city but also for parts of Thane and Bhiwandi. Very h...

The South West Monsoon arrived dot on time in Kerala on 1st June, 2020 and hit Maharashtra on 11th June--late by only a day. In the next two days the Monsoon covered all of Maharashtra including the COVID-tormented city of Mumbai. While there have been heavy rains in all parts of the state Mumbai and its suburbs have not felt the presence of the Monsoon yet--rains so far only scattered and inconsistent, unable to lessen the discomfort of the people as humidity was increasing all the time. Recently cyclone Nisarga headed for Mumbai side-tracked the city at the last minute and roared into interior Maharashtra just before the Alibaug town on the coast. That was perhaps a sort of a divine intervention sparing the city reeling under COVID spread from another disaster. In the last two days thunderstorms as per weather forecast for Mumbai and Thane didn't materialize at all. However, we would rather not expect the same treatment to be meted out to the city in regard to the Monsoon too.  T...