From their viewpoint, Banta directed Santa’s gaze away from the devastation below and towards the high slope on the other side of the valley.
Nestled high up, seemingly untouched by the chaos, was their small, traditional village of stone and wood houses.
It was serene, safe, and whole.
“Look up there, Santa,” Banta said softly.
Santa squinted.
“Ah yes, our old village.”
“The people out there are safe, thank God.”
“But what a hard life our ancestors must have had!”
“Imagine!”
“The river and temple are down here, the fields and our traditional Dhara are also halfway down the slope, and they chose to build their homes way up there on that ridge.”
“Think of the women carrying water up that steep path every single day.”
“Think of the men hauling produce.”
“They must have wasted half their lives just walking.”
“We are so lucky to have the road now.”
Banta turned to face Santa, his expression intense.
“Santa, you have it exactly backwards.”
“They were not having a hard life.”
“They were living a wise life.”
“We are not lucky to have the road.”
“We have actually become lazy and vulnerable.”
“What do you mean?” Santa asked, taken aback.
“Our ancestors understood one fundamental truth: the mountain gives, but the river takes.”
“They knew the valley floor was the river‘s domain.”
“So they made a conscious choice.”
“They decided to pay a small safety tax every single day.”
“Yes,” Banta affirmed.
“The daily safety tax was the sweat and effort of that long walk for fetching water and doing agricultural works.”
“It was the inconvenience of being far from the main path.”
“They paid this small price every day, willingly, in exchange for the ultimate security – knowing that their homes, their families, their entire village would not be washed away by a furious river.”
“They chose safety over convenience.”
He then gestured grimly towards the grey scar of Dharali below.
“And what did we do?”
“We chose convenience.”
“We built our lives on the river‘s doorstep to save ourselves that daily walk.”
“We refused to pay the small daily safety tax.”
“And so, on August 5th, the river came to collect its dues.”
“And it collected these all at once, in a single, terrible lump sum—with our homes, our market, and our loved ones.”
“The people in that high village are not just safe, Santa.”
“They are the living proof of a wisdom we have tragically forgotten.”
संता – बंता की इस जुगलबन्दी से आज हमने क्या सीखा:-
- परम्परागत ज्ञान का सम्मान: पहाड़ो में परम्परागत गाँवो का विन्यास आज हमें असुविधाजनक प्रतीत हो सकता हैं – पानी व खेती की जमीन के पहाड़ी ढाल के बीच वाले या निचले भाग पर होने पर भी, यह लोग ऊँचे स्थानों पर जो बसे। परन्तु यहाँ के लोग पीढ़ियों के अर्जित ज्ञान के आधार पर हिमालय के पर्यावरण व उससे जुड़े खतरों को भली भाँति समझते थे, और उन्होंने ऊँचे स्थानों पर बसने का यह निर्णय जानबूझ कर अपने समाज की सुरक्षा को ध्यान में रख कर लिया था।
- सुविधा की अपेक्षा सुरक्षा को प्राथमिकता: आज के समय में हमने दीर्घकालिक सुरक्षा की अपेक्षा सुविधा व अल्पावधीय आर्थिक हितो को प्राथमिकता देना आरम्भ कर दिया हैं और सच में देखा जाये तो आज हिमालयी क्षेत्र के निवासियों पर आसन्न आपदा के जोखिम के तेजी से बढ़ने का यह एक बड़ा कारण हैं।
- सुरक्षा का परोक्ष कर: वो सुरक्षा हो या अन्य कुछ, हमें हर चीज की एक कीमत चुकानी होती हैं – फिर एक साथ, अचानक, आपदा में सब – कुछ खो देने से तो यह कहीं बेहतर विकल्प हैं कि नियमित रूप से थोड़ी सी असुविधा का कर चुका दिया जाये।
- विकास पार पुनर्विचार: सच्चा विकास वही हैं जो हमें सुरक्षित बनाये, आपदा प्रतिरोध्य बनाये न कि वह जो हमारी आर्थिक, सामाजिक व अन्य गतिविधियों को उच्च जोखिम वाले क्षेत्रों में सीमित कर दे।
संता – बंता की यह जुगलबन्दी आपको कैसी लगी, कृपया हमें जरुर बताये
व
इस जुगलबन्दी को बेहतर बनाने के लिये अपने सुझाव अवश्य दें।
हमें हमेशा की तरह आपके सुझावों, प्रतिक्रियाओं व कटाक्षो का बेसब्री से इंतजार रहता हैं और सच मानिये इसी के आधार पर हम अपने आप में, अपनी सोच व रचनात्मकता में सुधार करने को प्रेरित होते हैं।
सो अच्छा – बुरा जैसा आपको महसूस हुवा हो, कमेंट जरुर करते रहें।
The chat between Santa and Banta makes it easy for us to understand the philosophy behind the selection of favourable and safe sites for human settlements —much above the river course on the hill slopes. Our ancestors were really wise to finalise the sites which were safe but not convenient. But today we do just reverse and face the tragedy like Dharali in Uttarkashi- Uttarakhand which is convenient but not safe.