Friday, December 6, 2019

''AN APPEAL'' -- a short story by Praveen Gupta in India

INTRODUCTION
[with a brief letter from the author of this story, Praveen Gupta]:

Dear Dan,
 
 
I just read a fascinating piece wrt your work to support Cli-Fi!
 
The Climate Change arena drew me in a long time ago. I have been writing about various issues for over 25 years - before it became fashionable. The focus came when I used to live in Hong Kong, during the 1990s.
 
The typhoon season inspired me to write a story then - which till date remains unpublished. May I share that with you? Just incase it could still see the light of the day!
 
In the recent past I have actively started putting things on Climate Change related issues on www.thediversityblog.com. Perhaps you may wish to look at it.
 
Look forward to hearing from you.
 
Warm regards,
 
Praveen
 
I re-typed this story after 25 years! Having lived and changed so many homes ever since I moved out of HK, there was no way I could have had access to the original! In fact, I found this manuscript earlier this year, like some others, whilst spring cleaning my ‘storage’ place.
 
I just realised that the last time around it was perhaps ‘Wordstar’ that I used. I had not moved over to MS Word! As I typed - some minor corrections popped up - and wherever necessary I have gone with those. Kindly, therefore, do bear with me for that liberty.
 
I must also let you know that the concept of Saa Yue came to me from an octogenarian (then) friend Late Mr Tong (originally from Shanghai)!
 
Warm regards,
 
Praveen
 
==================
 
THE STORY IS HERE: titled ''AN APPEAL''
 
“AN APPEAL”
 
The roaring thunder, lashing rains and strong gales that engulfed the Territory were
as always labelled a typhoon. Bearing a name in the usual alphabetic order. Not
one person in or around heard the invocation of Saa Yue - the great shark spirit,
who for thousand of centuries had ruled the South China Sea. Ages before man set
foot on the neighbouring lands. Today It was furious and venting out the steam that
had been long building up. Here was a specie that they had looked upon very
kindly. The human was now turning out to be not only a threat to the Saa Yue or
the specie itself - but the entire planet.

The great spirit had witnessed a slow spread and steady multiplication of homo-
sapiens along the coastlines. Like any other plant and creature, It philosophised,
they too would eventually merge harmoniously in the grand design.

But adapt, It began to realise, was an understatement for this creation. The great
one had seen evolution unfold ever since its own arrival. And was amused by the
suggestion of marine life going overland and even becoming arboreal. To the
arrival of the naked ape! He dressed up in no time. Initially depended largely on
the vast expanse of water, for his food. Then discovered cultivation. Made fire.
Came back to the sea with means for larger catches. Planks transformed into big
and bigger boats. Never till then he dare dare a shark.

And how did the Saa Yue feel about being left out of the Noah’s Ark?
No big deal. We have survived the worst of deluges. We do not even see global
warming as any real threat to us!

While the mastery of the waterways brought wars, piracy and worst forms of
deceit, it also enabled the great seers and masters to travel to and fro.

We were one of the first to hear profound ideas and divine teachings before they
could reach faraway lands. We guarded the vessels in this part of the world. Be it
Fa Xian, Xuan Cang or St Francis Xavier and all those names that your world
would never know. We were with them when the seas were rough and heavens
harsh. Their test was ours.
 
What did we gain?

They heard with all humility, our confessions and anxieties.

Oh, great souls we prey on smaller creatures, we said.

Ah! They had a very reassuring reply. Ever heard of ‘matsyanyaya’? In short, the
big fish eat the small fish. And thou are but a part of such a supreme will.
Thou art a martial class of the oceans. Kshatriya, Samurai, Mandarin - whatever
thy may wish to call thyself.

Protect thy territories. Do not attack unless provoked. And do not kill
meaninglessly.

The early fishermen set out to fish seeking blessings of Goddess Tin Hau. They
worked hard and caught only as much as their needs. We admired the heroism of
the hunter and hunted, in The Old Man And The Sea. The sharks were never
known for Moby Dick kind of blubber. The greed of human harpoons was,
therefore, first aimed at the poor whales.

The march of history took a devious turn. Man made deadlier fishing equipment,
bigger ships, longer reach. Stronger armies and more unfortunate wars. The sailing
boats were eventually fossil fuelled. Damaging the world around us. All we do
after a meal is leave behind oxygen rich crimson red hue. We never came to
understand the stealthy submarines. The nylon nets endanger our young and weak
ones.

We often wonder - where are the great men who gave us the wisdom.

Is it true that they had become recluses on high mountains? Why?

We do not understand why men push the frontiers of land further and farther into
the seas. Dumping rocks and concrete fill. Out pop more and more ‘termite hills.
What also baffles is the term land shark! If that is an analogy to any of our 340
types - it is adding insult to injury.

You painted the snouts of your warplanes with our mock look alike. And Peter
Benchley tainted us as the man-eater around the Amity Island, in his Universal
Studio ‘Epic’. You all say; the only good shark is a dead shark. How ridiculous.
You call us by all funny names; jagged toothed one, killing machines,
Chondrichthyes et al. You overlook the majestic perfect grace of a shark in natural
surroundings. Our bloody pictures outside water indeed look grotesque.

Your portrayal of us as a fierce uncontrolled force has only imprinted deep terror
in human souls. More men get killed by your funny motor cars. More men kill
men. And more sharks get attacked by men than men by sharks.

Do you think a P.R. firm could do us any good? We would certainly like to get rid
of our worse than Godzilla image. Sharkie is a comic attempt, but not good
enough. Maybe, something on lines of the Jungle Book or Pocahontas!

You hunt our brethren to go into your supper bowls as shark fin soup. Tell us, how
would you feel if you were us. First be hunted. Then smell the putrefied remains of
such soup dumped back into the seas. With all that continuous filthy discharge.

Aren’t we all here to live together?

Our martial sense possesses us. Your sight is a provocation to most of our breed.
One shark attack and out pop your several beware signs. For every attack you
plunge into the cyberspace to explore where and when was the last one reported.

Your think tanks tinker hard for reasons. You hire mercenaries to liquidate us.

We share more secrets on your origins than Darwin could ever unravel. We know
much more about you than what Cousteau or the likes could fathom about us.

Come on, said the mighty Saa Yue, as It whipped the waters of South China Sea.

From the strong sinuous movements rose big waves, winds and the froth.

Enveloping the skies and lands around. And up went the number eight signal.

Give us a chance. We are sure you can survive and flourish without the soup. And
prove your masculinity without having to kill us.

Come on, come on … .
 

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