Apocalypse – Population growth or Some Virus?

In 1969 when I was born the world population was at 3.6 billion. In fifty years it has doubled to 7 billion…… Krishnan and I are happy that we didn’t contribute to this growth as we decided not to have any children. The Earth has limited resources and human beings are not only procreating mindlessly, we are depleting the Earth’s resources at an alarming rate.

A few days back I came across this news item about a lady delivering her 12th child :(:(:(:( at 33 in Kerala. Who will feed them all ? Who will clothe them ? Who will provide them with education and a job ? Her husband works in some hotel and obviously she doesn’t work because she is busy having children. My maternal grandmother had 18 children, my paternal grandmother had 9 …. that was at a time when infant mortality rates were high and our society was largely driven by agriculture. Of the 18 children that my maternal grandmother delivered, 11 survived.

My father was very clear that he and Mom will have just one child – whether a boy or a girl. Smart man, my dad. He understood that with his limited means he cannot afford to have more children and he never cared about having a “son” to carry his legacy forward !!! And of course, I went a step further and had no children. Most of my uncles and aunts have one or two children … no one went their respective mothers’ way. So in one generation, the family has shrunk as it should.

Every time someone tells me that they had another child, I don’t know whether to congratulate them or yell at them or just feel sad. India and the world cannot afford to have more than one child per family at best …. even then it would take decades before the death rate overtakes the birth rate :(.

I think Mother Earth is very angry and she is sending us SOS messages in many different ways – the mushrooming of IVF clinics is a clear indication that Nature doesn’t want you to have a child. There are enough children who need parents, so go adopt. Anyway there are no guarantees in life, somebody’s biological child turned out to be Osama Bin Laden, somebody’s biological child turned out to be Abdul Kalam, somebody’s adopted child turned out to be Steve Jobs and somebody’s adopted child turned out to be Lord Krishna !!! Life gives no guarantees. Why suffer through the IVF process when all you need is a child ?

All the pandemics, epidemics, Tsunamis etc are Nature’s way of balancing herself. Western science is deeply flawed in their approach towards Nature – you cannot control Nature, you can only understand her and behave accordingly. The Corona Virus is a perfect example of science going wrong. Overdo vaccinations, overdo pesticides and get super germs. Nature will best you. If you try and kill all the germs, they will mutate and come back with a vengeance. Sure, we have eradicated polio, leprosy, malaria etc etc but we have got HIV, virulent forms of Cancer, SARS etc, as return gifts ! Scientists need to think why. I am not against scientific progress. I would be a fool to say Science hasn’t improved our lives… but our attempts to become a master of Nature ain’t working. We need to learn more about how to live in cooperation with Nature and not try to lord over her.

For all those who are in panic mode about Corona Virus, the following tweet should make you feel a little less anxious –

Continue washing your hands and staying away from crowded places… but stop wringing your hands.

Are we listening to Mother Earth ? Or are we swaying to some music with our Apple ear pods while the Earth sways with her huge burden ?

Corona Virus is not the promised Apocalypse, Population growth probably is. Stop having children mindlessly, please. Adopt instead.