FLOOD AND BLOOD :

".....Sooner or later, all belongings come together into one, and a river runs through the obstacle of hard rocks and dense woods. The blue river was cut into two by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of mother earth over the time of ages and years.
On some of the rocks are enduring raindrops. Under the rocks are my alphabets, words, sentences, and phrases and some of the words are from the bounty of the rivers, I am obsessed with misty dew drops, and drizzling rain showers……The storm of my mind still continues. Another blue river of life overflows much violently, later so silently......
The nightmare of 1975-77 is not one that India will ever forget. As we have witnessed year after year since the Emergency was lifted, there has been a concerted effort to make sure that this brief moment in India’s post-Independence history when democracy was put in a coma is not erased from our collective memory. That itself would be a fearful thought.
At the same time, for writers, there possibly cannot be a juicier, pulpier story to tell. The cast of characters, the ingredients, the drama, the intrigue, there’s so much meat in this story that every new recollection, each new perspective is eagerly devoured. At the heart of each is the personality of Indira Gandhi herself, this powerful politician of the masses who could be reduced to such humiliating silence by an unruly 29-year-old son.
Emergency Retold

One of the quickies that Vinod Mehta referred to, was first published in 1977 as The Judgement, and then in 2013 under this current title. A journalist with The Indian Express when the Emergency was declared, Nayar himself was incarcerated for about seven weeks. “For a newsman, nothing can be more frustrating than to gather news that he knows cannot be printed," he writes in the preface to the book. But he continued to do so, knowing full well that here was a book waiting to be written.
It begins with an air heavily laden with suspense at the prime minister’s residence on the morning of 12 June 1975, the day the Allahabad high court was to pass judgment on the Raj Narain petition accusing Indira Gandhi of corrupt electoral practices. Her senior-most private secretary recalls the failed attempts to bribe, induce and threaten “the strange" justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha of the Allahabad high court, who “could not be tempted and (who) would not submit to pressure", to delay the judgment. A detailed account of these two years, it benefits from having been written when the memory of the Emergency was still very fresh.
First published by Jaico in 1978 when he was still the editor of Debonair, Mehta is, as he put it, the “only biographer" of Indira Gandhi’s enfant terrible. This unauthorized biography, republished by HarperCollins in 2012, is a candid, easy-to-read account that portrays Sanjay Gandhi as awkward, cold, unemotional, power-crazed, and at rallies and in life, “a pedestrian uninspired speaker gifted with no turn of phrase or sense of humor".
The Dramatic Decade by Pranab Mukherjee
Rupa
The first of the Indian president’s three-part memoir that came out late last year, this one covers the period between 1969 and 1980. While there was much curiosity when this book was published as to what Mukherjee—who was a junior minister in the Union cabinet in 1975—would reveal, this is as dry and safe an account as could be, where he for the large part provides a defense for Indira Gandhi in the only place he can—the question of the legality of the opposition’s call for her to step down after the Allahabad high court’s judgment. More revealing are the excerpts he includes from Jayaprakash Narayan’s letters and other books on the Emergency. The most he himself goes is, “The Congress and Indira had to pay a heavy price for this misadventure." Still, it makes for a good “read between the lines" game.
Indira Gandhi, the ‘Emergency’, and Indian Democracy by P.N. Dhar
Oxford University Press
The memoir of the head of the prime minister’s secretariat during Indira Gandhi’s time in office, published in 2000, is hard to come by and on Amazon, its price seems to be only increasing every day. Earlier in the week, the price of the paperback edition had risen from the previous Rs14,000 to Rs16,119, and the sole copy has been snapped up since then. Hardcover is still available though on the website, for Rs25,049.
Dhar tells the story from within the closed doors of Gandhi’s office. In sections related to the Emergency, one gets to know, for instance, of the loneliness of a powerful woman in a male-dominated sphere, of his attempts to forge a truce between Gandhi and Jayaprakash Narayan, of the various moods he finds her in, and her working style, and the “discrepancy between her private feelings and her public reaction" at Sanjay Gandhi’s doings.
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
Faber and Faber
It does seem strange that there aren’t too many memorable novels set in this period. Rohinton Mistry, the Parsi novelist and short story writer who quit India and moved to Canada in 1975, follows the fate of four characters—a Parsi widow, her border, and two Hindu tailors—in his third book, in which he is fairly critical of the Emergency, the backdrop to this fine story. First published in 1995, it was subsequently shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

WHEN RIVERS TURN RED is a political fiction based on the drastic Emergency Period between 1975 and 1976 which prevailed in India.
In recent years, several reports of rivers turning to blood-red color have appeared. A  Beirut River in Lebanon; Periyar, one of the longest rivers in the state of Kerala in India another river flowing in  Sri Lanka—are all reported blood-red by reliable news outlets. These stories have had many people wondering: is this a fulfillment of the end-times prophecy? Is the water turning to blood?

The water-to-blood prophecies are found in the book of Revolution. The second trumpet judgment will bring a great calamity upon the earth: “The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

In Revelation book, during the second half of the tribulation, God will indeed turn the waters of the sea to blood: “The second angel poured out her bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died.” Then in the “ book of verses”  God does the same to the world’s freshwater supply: “The third angel poured out her bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say: ‘You are just in these judgments, O Holy One, you who are and who were; for they have shed the blood of your holy people and your prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.’”

We also see that God’s two special witnesses during the tribulation will be empowered to perform miracles: “They have the power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want. The two end-times prophets will have the same ability as Moses, who turned the Nile River to blood).

Modern reports of water turning bloody red do not match up with the end-times prophecies of Revelation. For one thing, the tribulation has not started yet. For another, the sea turning to blood at the third trumpet judgment is preceded by trumpets one and two—the first will involve hail and fire and blood raining down on the earth, and the second will cause a third of the trees and all of the grass to be burned. None of that has happened yet. And the bowl judgments that turn the sea and freshwater to blood are later still.

So, the red rain in Sri Lanka and the red river in Lebanon are not fulfillments of Revelation. The seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments described in that book will be much worse than anything that is happening today. If these recent events are not signs of the apocalypse, then what are they? There are three possible reasons why water turns blood red. The first is natural, the second is man-caused, and the third is supernatural.

Blood-red water is attributed to natural causes. When a body of water suddenly turns blood-red, it is often the result of a rare natural phenomenon called an algal bloom or a red tide. An algal bloom occurs when conditions are just right for colonies of algae to grow out of control. In high concentrations, the algae’s pigmentation discolors the water. Algal blooms can happen in fresh water and in salt water. The red water reported in Nootdorp, the Netherlands, has been attributed to these natural causes.

Blood-red water is attributed to man-made causes. Sometimes, bodies of water are discolored due to man-made substances released into the water. The red color of the river in Zhejiang Province, China, was determined to be due to the illegal dumping of red dye. The report of the Beirut River in Lebanon turning red resulted in a government investigation. The cause was traced back to a factory releasing a chemical into the river.

Blood-red water is attributed to supernatural causes. We know that, in the past, God has caused water to turn to blood: “ raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was changed into blood. The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. Blood was everywhere in Egypt”).

The description of this plague in the Bible indicates a truly supernatural event. The general understanding is that, when Moses’ rod struck the river, the change from water to blood took place immediately. And all the water in Egypt was affected: “streams and canals . . . the ponds and all the reservoirs . . . even in vessels of wood and stone”. An algal bloom or a poured chemical would not have affected the whole water supply—cisterns, rain barrels, and everything.

Also, the biblical account of the plague in Egypt suggests the water was turned into actual blood. Nothing is said in Exodus about the water having only the “appearance” of blood; it simply says, “Blood was everywhere” . The same holds true for the prophecies in Revelation. The description is of “blood,” accompanied by massive fish kills and the destruction of entire fleets of ships.

Among all the modern reports of water changing to a blood-red color, none report the presence of actual blood. Instead, the news stories indicate the water was changed either by natural means (by bacteria or algae) or by men dumping chemicals into the water. In no instance is the water turned to actual blood. We are not living in tribulation.

ONE
 Media men based in and around Kochi in Kerala State in India will sure be worried about the sudden floods only when it rains. Until then, we will not look back at what is going on in the city and its backwaters, or what is the subject's past. When there is a flood (that too due to rain only an hour ago) we will search for the cause of it and we will catch people who have recently come to Kochi from distant lands and live in flats and put them in front of the mike. Because those who came yesterday know clearly how Kochi used to be and what was the real cause of the flood!! When I heard him commenting in front of the mike that there was no flood like this in Kochi in the last 60 years, the matter became even clearer!!! In fact, till the 70s, there was never even a nominal flood in Kochi until the 70s (let alone the great flood of 1341. Kochi never happened then) I don't know if any of the academies teach it in today's diploma courses. Until the 70s, Kochi and its suburbs were seen today as just a single inland village. Apart from the harbor and the old railway station, the tallest in Kerala at Kayaloram, the seven-storied Sealord, the rare double-storied buildings, the market, broadway, market boats, bullock carts, and so on, 95% of today's Kochi city is a village of vast paddy fields, full of fruit trees, full of well-flowing streams, canals, swamps, wetlands, ponds and backwaters, and rivers. The land where as much rain as falls gets into the soil and the rest flows without any hindrance into rivers, lakes, and fields. Today's MG Road. until the first half of the seventies.
The golden paddy field was growing in abundance right next to the MG road. It was a time when it rained non-stop for months. Still, there was no flood in Kochi that day. How come today Kochi is submerged in water just by a single rain that lasts for hours? Especially when it's full of canas and repeatedly costs billions to build and maintain it? Aren't there some reasons for the recurring floods here since the eighties? Why is it not sought, not told, not exposed, when is it not for the flood?
Menstrual cups are now more important to us than water reservoirs. Campaigns that highlight its strengths. In that case, we can discuss sitting high in the metro. What happened below, how we lay down, our interests are always at the height!!! Let it stand there for now. Let me tell you a story from the seventies. The story of the early seventies. In Kochi, where today's shipyard is located, was a very beautiful village back then. To the east of it (Seventy Feet Road) are paddy fields, streams, swamps and wetlands where Pokkali rice grows abundantly. How many times have you seen these fields full of beaks... The railroad tracks that we see today run through the middle of it, that too at a height. All the water that fell on that day flowed without any hindrance into the aforementioned paddy fields, creeks, marshes, wetlands and then into the rivers. In the 1970s, Girinagar, then Gandhinagar and Panambilly Nagar were filled one by one. And then around it would be oceans of buildings, above and below the ground, without any regulation or planning seen today. Then, where will all the water that falls fall and flow through which ways... The answer to that question is the miseries of waterlogging that the reference area has experienced since the 80's till yesterday and is yet to experience. If there were any means left for the water to flow away, they are now all topped by buildings. Those with money and influence grabbed it all. There has been no shortage of that in Kochi till now. No hawk flies over money. If there was any soil left, it was covered with tar and tiles. When the rich did this, the poor found a place to sleep and the water flow was on the way. Right in front of the shipyard, opposite the road, there was a very wide promontory extending south to the river, where boats used to go up and down, until the seventies. The stream where all the rainwater had flowed away was full of fish playing. In the early 70s, dozens of houses came up in that stream itself. The encroachers first built houses over the water. Then the ditch was filled and houses were built. Then the water through it to flow.. This is exactly what happened in Kochi after the 70s. Then through which route will the water flow... If there are crores of money that have been shared in various tributaries in Kochi in the name of avoiding waterlogging till now, maybe a state can buy a ban. So my friend let's sit upstairs and meditate on the cup of life!!! (Cont...)

PART 2
Menstrual cups are now more important to us than water reservoirs. Campaigns that highlight its strengths. In that case, we can discuss sitting high in the metro. What happened below, how we lay down, our interests are always at the height!!! Let it stand there for now. Let me tell you a story from the seventies. The story of the early seventies. Kochi, where today's shipyard is located, was a very beautiful village back then. To the east of it (Seventy Feet Road) are paddy fields, streams, swamps, and wetlands where Pokkali rice grows abundantly. How many times have you seen these fields full of beaks... The railroad tracks that we see today run through the middle of it, that too at a height. All the water that fell on that day flowed without any hindrance into the aforementioned paddy fields, creeks, marshes, wetlands, and then into the rivers. In the 1970s, Girinagar, then Gandhinagar, and Panambilly Nagar were filled one by one. And then around it would be oceans of buildings, above and below the ground, without any regulation or planning seen today. Then, where will all the water that falls fall and flow through which ways... The answer to that question is the miseries of waterlogging that the reference area has experienced since the 80s till yesterday and is yet to experience. If there were any means left for the water to flow away, they are now all topped by buildings. Those with money and influence grabbed it all. There has been no shortage of that in Kochi till now. No hawk flies over money. If there was any soil left, it was covered with tar and tiles. When the rich did this, the poor found a place to sleep and the water flow was on the way. Right in front of the shipyard, opposite the road, there was a very wide promontory extending south to the river, where boats used to go up and down, until the seventies. The stream where all the rainwater had flowed away was full of fish playing. In the early 70s, dozens of houses came up in that stream itself. The encroachers first built houses over the water. Then the ditch was filled and houses were built. Then the water through it to flow. This is exactly what happened in Kochi after the 70s. Then through which route will the water flow... If there are crores of money that have been shared in various tributaries in Kochi in the name of avoiding waterlogging till now, maybe a state can buy a ban. So my friend let's sit upstairs and meditate on the cup of life!!! (Cont...)