Thank God we are only fifth.

Apparently the present heat wave in India is fifth in terms of mortality, having resulted in over 2,000 deaths already. Europe heads the list with 71,310 deaths in 2003, followed by Russia with 55,736 in 2010. There were so many deaths in France that bodies had to be stored in a refrigerated warehouse in Paris. The population of Europe is around 740 million and that of Russia is around 144 million, while the population of India is 1.25 billion, crammed into a much smaller space. A massive population, with unchecked growth, leads to massive poverty so any weather condition results in deaths. People are praying for a good monsoon because good rains are vital for agriculture and to fill up reservoirs to supply drinking water for the rest of the year. But rains can never be uniformly distributed. There are bound to be very heavy rains in some areas, which will lead to floods, leading to loss of life. A cold winter, with heavy snowfall in the mountains is essential to replenish our receding glaciers so that snow-melt can keep our rivers flowing in the dry months. But cold will kill people without adequate shelter. In between extremes, in the months of March or November, when the weather is neither cold nor hot, mosquitoes will cause deaths from dengue and malaria. India leads the world in the largest number of malnourished people, at 194 million, who are vulnerable to inclement conditions. Surely, the only effective solution is to bring down the number of people. Instead they are seen as ' vote bank ' to be bribed by large numbers of social schemes to win elections, so that a culture of entitlement has been created among the poor. It is hard to imagine how anyone can conceive 8 children on an open pavement in Mumbai. Perhaps the only good thing about being fifth in the list of mortality is that they cannot accuse the ' Hindu Nationalist ' government of the BJP for being a ' suit boot ki sarkar '. Natural disasters are highly lucrative for a whole host of people. Along with malnutrition India has the distinction of hosting 2 million Non Governmental Organisations, one for every 600 people, whose earnings depend on disasters and mortality, the more the better. Then there are our ever present masters, the politicians and civil servants, who salivate at the opportunity of doling out vast sums of government aid for relief, so that they can enjoy themselves doing so. The flash floods in Uttarakhand in 2013 was a bonanza for local civil servants who enjoyed Rs 1 billion of aid money while over 5,500 died. Not just in India. A 92 year old woman jumped off a bridge in Avon after being hounded by charities for contributions. If the number of deaths had been any higher leaders of political parties and many NGOs would have collected to provide relief, making millions in the process. Thankfully the rains are here. Just in time.