Re: What's the Point

Dear Hari,

At the outset, I commend you for addressing the letter to me. Had it been addressed to Varuna, it would have still reached me, but after a few hundred years (in your time). From the depths of the Ocean, he would have to redirect it all the way to my Head Quarters (High Heavens). And it would give him one more reason for shooting a taunting mail, with all my juniors in the CC that I am not doing enough to make the hierarchy clear to mortals.

I perfectly understand your dilemma, friend. And it's time you understood how we function here.
To put in simply, it's like a Venture Capitalist v/s Entrepreneurs. A certain sum is preordained, till the time the venture grows to be self sufficient, right? Like wise, we here at High Heavens had arrived at a consensus of a  rather heavy dose of rains to your city, considering it's sweltering summers, population, constructions...and of course Bollywood! This was met with some contempt even back then by my team of gods here, especially from the production unit of the Rains department.

Another thing you should know is what you call Rains, are actually tears of gods. My team go through horrendous pain while being lashed with a thunderbolt, till the mortal world is flooded by tears. So your city had all the more reason to get surplus rains, as we gods, who are otherwise quite apathetic to human pain, were moved to tears even without the thunderbolt lashings. Some instances in your city have been so funny that we laughed till we cried, and some so gruesome that we never laughed gain.

And as you know, friend, I also have to take the opinions of other forms of life as well, but thus far, I have been slightly partial to you humans. And whenever I did consider the opinions of birds, beasts and plants, they always were against any bill being passed in the favour of humans.

But this year's AGM saw a twist in the tale. I was met with two proposals - One from the gods from the production unit of the Rain Departments, and the other from the Spirit of Nature that co-exists with you guys.
The gods felts the production unit was being strained to the max, and Mumbai has been receiving a lot more than what it deserves and they demanded a severe cut in this year's targets.

And the Spirit of Nature's proposal stated that rains are needed elsewhere in the world as well, and demanded a new chart of distribution channels to be prepared.

At this time, Brihaspati, my trusted guide brought out a point. Mumbai has run out of it's Karma, and it's time for it to be self-sufficient. (Remember the venture capitalist theory?) Pandemonium broke out, as some sections felt it would be grossly unfair, and may also cause a curse to be placed on us by our CEO Brahma for inconsiderate decision-making. (Also, I heard there are courts on earth that can sue us under "Acts of God"). And others found no wrong in cutting of rain supply to Mumbai, as we have given it more that what we were supposed to.

Whenever such situations arise, Brishaspati once again, perfectly recollects ancients laws and solves the problem. He mentioned a law that states that when disputes relating to the Weather department, including but not limited to its subsidiaries, results in a conflict of interest between the Gods, the Spirit of Nature will have the final word.

For the first time in a long time (that's in my time), the Spirit of Nature spoke in favour of your race! She made a small presentation about certain individuals, who slowly but surely are making your city inch towards the mandated self sufficiency with respect to rainfall.

She mentioned that it's perfectly fine to reduce the rainfall this year, as this will act as a major emotional booster for such individuals, and to the people they approach for support, leading to more serious actions being taken.

So dear Hari, here's the actual reason why I am even replying to the query of a mortal. Nature Baba and Project 35 trees came up repeatedly in her presentation, and your effort in writing to me further strengthened her points.

So the bottom line, continue your efforts. Explore, educate and inspire. The Gods have done their bit for your city. And we are glad we can take a break, as the likes of you are doing the needful. Who knows? maybe your actions will move us gods once again to tears. To tears of joy, and your city will be drenched again.

Sincerely,
Indra
Chief Controller - Solar System
High Heavens