Over the flood waters in Assam

Prelude from Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1

Introductory music; extract from Bach’s Prelude, Cello Suite No. 1, over the flood waters in Assam.

Calm waters and the azure sky as fettered to the prism of art are but indicative of the surface reality underneath which lies the story of untold misery pertaining to the wretched of the earth that escapes the media gaze. The surface tranquillity notwithstanding the artistic representation as evident in the narrative aims at establishing an empathic vibration of kindred souls so as to invoke their corroborative gestures for effecting the amelioration of the human condition as witnessed in the discursive lens.

There was a time when people welcomed the ‘first flooding’ of the year which would replenish the fertility of the land. But today, things have come to such a pass that excessive flooding caused by climate change, human exploitation, politics & failed policies leave the state reeling on an annual basis. Faulty embankments lead more to disasters rather than providing protection. Children are unable to attend schools due to the frequent floods. More than 1,00,000 hectares of cropland submerged. Over 5.6 million people affected in 30 districts. Lakhs of houses washed away; several villages submerged. Animals come out of the wild in search of food & shelter to empty villages nearby. While the floods leave a trail of destruction behind, it becomes incumbent on us to take up the cudgels and help the distressed tide over the crisis.