Saturday, November 1, 2008

Mautam---A phenomenon that jeopardises existence

Resentment leads to discontent. Discontent transforms into rebellious endeavours when people feel neglected. Mizo National Front was formed to get the attention of indifferent regime that overlooked their apprehensions about Mautam. In this far flung north eastern Indian state of Mizoram, Mautam occurs every fifty years. Mautam is a natural cycle that accelerates the flowering of bamboo 'crops.' This means flowers blossom on 'bamboo' crops. During flowering, hordes of rats swoop on them to quench their natural desire of 'hunger'. These rats feed on them. Acres of this 'bamboo' farmlands are destroyed as a result of flowering. As collateral damage these rats leave behind them the most dreaded farm-crop diseases. Plague is one of them. Due to this unique phenomenon, deteriorated by plague of farmlands, acres of famcrop lands are destroyed. In Mizoram 'bamboo' and its resultant economic activities are the mainstay of the Mizos. People not only built their houses but they also indulge in handicrafts utilising the abundance of bamboo. Last time flowering happened in 1958. Owing to the government's failure to stop Mautam, the great famine engulfed larger section of population. The entire state came under the threat of starvation, displacement because of unavailability of food. The present day Mizo National Front occupies the central position in the state politics. Its ruling the state. Famines and natural disasters are national calamities. National calamities are not the domains of states governments only. In tandem with the Centre any state at the receiving end of the natural calamity tries to deal with the crisis. But in case of Mautam---a joint mechanism is the need of the hour. A joint venture of between the Centre and Mizoram could produce good results. Initially the apprehensions of the Mizos were mocked and the whole episode was downplayed. The fears were termed only as unreliable superstitions. A man from the region states that he saw eight hundred to one thousand rats. These rats swarm to feed on the blossomed bamboo farms, do not differentiate fields and houses. The measures taken to avert the crisis are not sophisticated. Manual capturing of rats is the only way to lessen the damage. A few of the farmers sprinkle poisons across farms. some paddy fields are also affected because of the peak season. In peak season paddy fields throw the produce out.  First Mautam occurred in 1911. Mautam tells two stories. One shows the ingenuity of the rodents. They attack the fields in groups of hundreds and thousands. The other exposes the indifference of the regimes that consist of homo sapiens. One time guerilla fighter the present chief minister may be occupying the powerful seat, but there exists no concrete effort to do away with the menace. A land of guerillas or millitary-men has failed to win the war against rats.  It is difficult to say that how the locals deal with the problems, but the need of the hour is to curb the phenomenon----that jeopardises the existence.

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