Whatever sounds logical may not necessarily be true. A great example is this story I heard during my growing up days in Odisha. Many complained that the quantity of crop harvested in Mahanadi river basin downstream from the Hirakud has decreased ever since the dam was constructed. The logic is after the Hydro Power is generated from it the water loses its fertility. Hence the crop produced using the water after electricity extraction lacks the taste and texture compared to those produced using the water from Mahanadi upstream before the power is generated from it. Those who have told me this story are quite educated with university degrees. Some of them have even studied Science at least up to the intermediate level. I had explained to them that electricity does not come out of water or H2O is not converted to electricity. The falling force of the water is used to rotate the turbine which generates the electricity. Similarly in 1995 I found a crowd of devotees rushing towards the Lingaraj temple in Bhubaneswar with containers carrying milk. It was a normal day. No festival was round the corner. But the story going around each nook and corner of the city was that the statues of Lord Ganesh all of a sudden developed some interest in milk drinking. To my surprise many including educated folks were wrestling to satiate the Lords thirst. The narrow trunk of Ganesh can have capillary effect absorbing liquid explaining the phenomenon. My rational explanation against this false hypothesis fell into deaf ears, hardly convincing them. So I gladly let them retain their belief. Man is the most irrational animal, otherwise the concept of God would have never evolved.
Posted on: Sat, 08 Feb 2014 12:54:53 +0000
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