The recent snowfall accompanied by rain has made us blame many things for this early onset of winter in Kashmir. Some blame our bad deeds and others global warming. It is true that the weather is behaving differently and we are witnessing unusual seasons, sometimes with chill in the summers and more warmth in the winters. Is it all man-made, though, or nature has its own role in it?
We can put it in this way also: whether the fate of man is predestined or he himself is the architect of it?
As we look around ourselves and look at our own self and within our self, we find that there are countless things that shape and reshape us, in which we have no say or authority, e.g., in determining the climate of the land in which we are born, in the courses of rivers which flow therein, in the measure of intellect we have been endowed with, in the shape of our physical structure, in the inclinations and many other qualities of head and heart which are embedded in our nature. In all these aspects of life we find ourselves helpless before the great and mighty power that created us.
On the other hand, there are so many things in which we find ourselves quite empowered. As we looks at the marvellous achievements in science and technology, we find it difficult to believe that we are mere puppets in the mighty hand of Nature.
We are neither completely the master of our fate nor are we bound to the blind law of predestination. So far as the sovereignty of Allah’s will is concerned, it is all pervading and nothing falls outside its orbit. Not even a leaf, therefore, stirs without His will.
In the ongoing climatic changes we neither have the power nor the authority to force Nature to follow us; instead, we have to follow Nature as we used to from times immemorial.
The developments in science and technology help us only in predicting the things and with these predictions we sometimes manage the things in a better way and save ourselves from disasters, but sometimes we get little time to manage. One thing is certain, though: that we cannot manage everything and emerge the winners all the time.
We, too, are responsible for these disasters as we have not only polluted our surroundings and environment but devastated and degraded them, too. It is impossible now to regenerate it and restore its earlier state.
Now when global warming, climate change and unpredictable weather is the harsh reality and the order of the day, it would be better to adapt ourselves to the new realities and equip ourselves with those techniques and measures which would be helpful in sustaining us in these hard times.
The need of hour is to adopt nature-friendly and climate-friendly agricultural and horticultural activities so that the damage can be mitigated to some extent in sudden climatic changes.
Man is unarmed and weak before the mighty Nature. Let us pray for good and hope for the best.

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Masood Ali Mir