BP Oil spill : contrast and comparison

By manohar man shrestha
In Thought of the day
August 11, 2010
2 min read

 There is a story in hindu mythology.  There was a time when the earth lost its mass because the demon called Hiranyaksha in the period of time exploited the resources  of that time.  As a result , the earth fell down into the universe.  Then an Avatar of Visnu, called VARAHA came and rescued the earth.  This avatar was that of a boar. It was huge and lifted the earth with its tusks placing it back in orbit.

 

Now this story may have a more serious meaning. 

 

This demon could be BP or our thirst for oil.  By rigging it out of the earth and burning if off through our automobiles, we may really making our earth lose its orbit.  To say that we will physically fall from orbit, is not my point at all.  But the ozone depletion and the like of the Gulf of Mexico disaster may be something akin. 

 

Was the BP oild spill in GOM

  • An accident
  • Carelessness
  • Divine sign to stop rigging?

 

The last one is a natural reasoning a Hindu trained mind like mine would opt for.  That is why may be countries with high hinduism prevalence don’t progress in material terms. 

 

Let’s put this BP oil disaster in comparison to the man-made disaster at 1984 Union Carbide gas leak disaster in Bhopal , India.  Is the BP GOM worse?  Even after 26  years, the impact of the disaster in Bhopal is still fresh.  Would that be case of those affected by the BP oil spill in GOM? 

 

From the point of view of someone far away from the impact of the disaster, watching the news unfold, the efforts reported, the criticisms, I can say that BP and the US government have done their best. True. May be the best is not enough.  But again we have to compare and contrast… 

 

So again, put that in contrast to a bridge that fell connecting two parts of Kathmandu about 3 years ago.  Our government is still not even completed the construction. 

 

So forwarding the whole BP disaster event, I can imagine myself watching on Natgeo, how the disaster occurred in the program related to disasters. 

 

Now who will the boar , Varaha be?  What does the boar metaphor represent?  What abtou the lifting of the earth from the bottom of the ocean on its tusks? 

 

Let me know if you get an answer.Â