REMEMBER when the weather did not have a mind of its own and confused meteorologists?

Remember when cyclones were not so harsh? Remember when it rained cats and dogs water flowed freely into drains and out to sea? Remember when vehicles didn’t spew out black toxic smoke? Remember when buses stopped at the bus stands, the drivers would turn off the engine?

Too many to remember.

Just a few years ago the weather worked like clockwork. Nothing unusual, just plain old normal weather.

From what experience I have, when I see mango trees fully laden I know it was going to rain, even when the skies were blue. And when I see ants starting to come into the house, bad weather was looming.

I remember the spring tides in Veisari and we just acknowledged it because it came on time.

We would put our household stuff on selves and it was nothing to us. It was normal.

Then came the river diversions, the cutting down of trees and mangroves, clearing of bush land and soil erosion occurred. Not to mention all the rubbish in the waterways.

And the construction sites where leftover construction material was just spilled into the waterways. And remember when the sugar mills contained its waste and not divert it into rivers?

Oh and the reclamation of land is also a reason for the unnatural weather.

And our sweet Lord shook his head and said, “Well, I gave you free will, if you don’t use it wisely things may not turn out well, so go for it.”