I thought she was Mother Cauvery, but she looks more like "Cauvery problem" now......Sigh!

"ಜಾಣ ಜಾಣರಿಗೆ ಮೂರು ದಾರಿ 

ಜಾಣ ಕೋಣರಿಗೆ ಎರಡು ದಾರಿ

ಕೋಣ ಕೋಣರಿಗೆ ಒಂದೇ ದಾರಿ" 

So goes one of the old sayings in Kannada. A rough translation:

Three paths for two wise men,

Two for a wise man and a fool,

Only one for two fools.

The story is that there was a stretch of very narrow  path which could accommodate only one at a time. When two wise men came to it from opposite sides, each thought of avoiding a conflict and took parallel paths on either side of it at short distances. So, effectively there were three paths available for the pair.

When a wise man and a fool encountered the same situation, the wise man wanted to avoid a conflict, and hence took a parallel path, and the fool smugly went on the narrow stretch, thus there were two paths available for the pair. 

When two fools encountered the same situation, both continued in the narrow stretch, came face to face, argued for a long time, and ended up fighting and getting injured, thus ending up with only one path - that of injury!

When (if you are a Kannadiga or Tamilian, it is not "When", but "If" 😀) you dispassionately look at this vexatious problem of Cauvery, which has carried on for over a century, you can't help appreciating the above saying.

For the nth time, rains are deficient, and the flow of Cauvery has ebbed. She is a pale shadow of her usual monsoon form, and naturally there are lot of concerns about the population which depend on her for drinking water and agriculture. 

Nature has not set any boundaries for her, and she couldn't care less if mere mortals set some and tried to divide her. In full stream or trickle, she carries on with whatever water she gets.

But unfortunately, the people of both states seem to think that she belongs to them first. This naturally is a fitting example of the two fools - one path story. No matter what the noises are on both sides of the state border, it doesn't need great acumen to see this, provided you are dispassionate about the issue.

Let me delve into this problem in a sort of "reasonably informed" way - not getting into technical details. (Those are not required here anyway).

As already stated above, this is the nth time we have this problem, and the way it turns out is a template - deficient rains => Karnataka reducing outflows => Tamil Nadu going for adjudication => Court ordering increased outflow => <Opposition blaming government> (in both KA/TN) => Bandh =>Protests =>......until better times arrive...

An obvious question - Is it necessary that this tragedy be played out with sickening predictability?

The real tragedy: NO ONE seems to be ASKING this question.

In my view, the entire population of both states can be broadly split into five categories:

The political class: This is the real class which can make or break. Consistently without exception, this has been in reactive, and mechanical mode. If they are in the opposition, they put all the blame on the ruling party, mobilize crowds and try to prove their relevance. If they are in ruling, they are busy defending their turf, and make softer noises and mechanical defenses.

The farming class: In the absence of any well thought out strategy internally, they are easily led into the only position of demanding their "rights", by (mainly) the Opposition, and linguistic and other interest groups.

The media: This one is bad - they are aligned well into the "One path" paradigm and are analyzing and conducting prime time debates on the "success" (!) of the Bandhs and protests, and how "justified" is their state.

The "ordinary people": These are easily fired up by emotional drama of the political class and the media and are ready to be cannon fodder.

The indifferent public: These people are mostly busy in their own world, and mostly are not part of any dispensation. 

The "intellectuals, thought leaders": This is where it gets painful. If there is some hope for a workable solution, or for sane voices, it is reasonable to expect it from this class, but at least as far as I have seen, these hopes can be given up.

As I have friends from both sides of the border, who I think are in the last class described above. When I see the way they have aligned themselves with the "cause" of their state, I am very sure that there is little hope of any solution. Each side has a similar theme - how just their state is, how much wronged their state has been, and how unreasonable the other state is. 

With this, I can't help remembering Kannada poet Harihara's line "ಹರ ಕೊಲ್ಲಲ್ ಪರಕಾಯ್ವನೇ, ಹರ ಹರ ಶ್ರೀ ಚನ್ನ ಸೋಮೇಶ್ವರ". 

Rough translation: If God himself decides to kill (someone), can anyone protect (that person)?

To me, the journey to solution for this vexed problem starts with the first question:

Are we part of the problem or solution?

Please note that I am not at all saying anything about how just the cause is for any state. All the above are true irrespective of what are "facts" - they are only defining the problem. 

If we decide that we are on the solution side, these are the points I want to highlight, (not necessarily in that order)

• No matter who is right, this conflict benefits no one eventually! (Except the lawyers representing the states 😀)

• A river belongs to ALL the riparian states, and no state can claim that it belongs to them exclusively. (This might appear silly, but see the reactions on both sides of the border - I don't think you will get the feeling that this point is understood)

• There is no problem in plenty, only when there is deficit. The strength, calibre, vision, and sincerity of two parties is not to be looked at when they have good times, but looking at how well they weather adverse conditions threatening their survival, will reveal the real qualities.  Do we see any clue in the way the leaders are handling the current crisis?

• From the very first point, it follows that there is no way this crisis can be handled by taking the "Us vs Them" approach. This is for the states, the governments, the opposition, and every class described above.

• If the deficit must be shared equitably between the states, it will mean that both states would be put into hardship equitably. Farmers will be put into a disadvantage. Water consumption needs to be cut down in the consumption zone. How do we ensure fair compensation to the farmers affected?

• The entire approach has been "one path". Are there creative "other ways", if not in the short run, at least eventually?

• Sadguru started a campaign titled "Run for the rivers", in calmer times. At that time, not only didn't he get the support he required for the success of the campaign , but also got enough criticism and condemnation of armchair ecologists, who rued that his mission would lead to a sort of "Monoculture". Effectively, they were ok if nothing was done, but they had problems because Sadguru did it! If they were sincere, they could have joined the discussion and presented their viewpoint of what should be the alternative. But we know our "activists" too well! (Please note I am not a follower of Sadguru but revere him).
• There are several tributaries of Cauvery. While many are still vibrant, many more have withered away due to deforestation, dumping of waste etc. How can we revive these? There are many experts in the field who can guide.

• The energy, hype, drama, publicity and involvement of leaders, actors, writers, etc., that has been used for "Bandh" - can that be used for whipping up the frenzy of the people to participate in large scale of afforestation? Can we do it on unheard of scale?

With the fond hope that at least some readers of this blog would review their positions (and hopefully produce many more insightful ideas to solve the problem), I end this note.