Man at sea

Man at sea

Abhilash Tomy found himself in the same boat as the Wild Boars.

Navy pilot Abhilash Tomy in 2013 became the first Indian to go around the Earth under sail – solo, nonstop, unassisted. This year he set out on another great adventure, the gruelling 30,000 mile solo circumnavigation Golden Globe Race. Unfortunately – 10,500 nautical miles into it – he suffered injuries after running into extreme rough weather, with waves rising more than 10 metres. His SOS was met with an international rescue effort, reminiscent of the way in which the young Thai football team Wild Boars was recently freed from Tham Luang caves.

Like Jules Verne wrote, it’s really useful to travel, if you want to see new things. But the novelist also conjured up endless obstacles that meet the hunger for adventure, from accidents of machinery to foulness of the elements. Tomy, the Thai boys, the yesteryear Indians who defied kalapani prohibitions against crossing the seas, the men and women who helped make flying in the sky ubiquitous for us creatures without wings, or those that are even now working on plans to make a home on another planet, they have all known that the more enterprising the journey the greater the risks.

Today these risks have multiplied because of global warming. Extreme weather events are increasing in frequency. Warming seas are creating more intense storms. Much as man has mastered it, nature is fighting back angrily. Just like it took different nations working in harness to save Tomy and the Thai boys, global cooperation is key to battle global warming. All signatories need to keep their Paris Agreement commitments – to cut emissions, transfer technology, invest in renewables, etc. Like the song goes, there comes a time when we must heed a certain call, when the world must come together as one.