Monsoon Waitings

Written by Caroline / 22 August 2009 / Read Caroline's latest blog entries.

It seems that all around the world people need epidemics, wars, rivers on fire in order to get a message. Why can't we learn to invest in prevention? Why does the media not cover our possibilities to prevent more such catastrophes!? This monsoon, more people in Delhi are talking about swine flu than anything else. Any autorickshaw driver can tell me what H1N1 is, but not what CO2 is! Why?

Why does the threat of a new disease terrify us more than the threat of the air pollution which kills hundreds daily? The threat of monsoons being two months late every year as they are in this one? The threat of no more monsoon weddings? The threat of more flooding like we had today when a week of monsoon rain fell in one hour?

While stuck in Delhi's snarls during today's floods, I looked around and saw literally thousands stuck in traffic that was bumper-to-bumper for at least fifteen kilometers in both directions. Whether on buses or in chauffered cars, everyone waited. Except, the cyclists. Delhi cyclists are amphibious - pedalling with wheels half under water, pedals sinking below the water every stroke - and are the fastest people on the roads during monsoon waiting. Even walking was faster than waiting in some stretches, once the Delhi roads drained through the clogged drainpipes full of plastic bags, chip wrappers, and other garbage.

It was nice to know, while I was stuck in this jam on a far side of town, my colleagues - young volunteers from our partner NGO Manzil - were working at a Climate Solutions Project stall at the Monsoon Festival, showcasing innovative solutions to climate change while guests watching movies that both seriously, casually, or culturally addressed the monsoons.