On a summer afternoon of 2008, I drove to a town about 250 km away to meet a friend.   I started off on the Expressway and after driving for about an hour at 100 kmph, the eight-lane road narrowed down to a four lane road, two lanes each on either side, uptown and downtown, separated by a 10 meter wide grass covered mound.  The urban concrete jungle I left behind had given way for the cultivated countryside dotted with a few farmhouses, stud farms and dairy farms.

While on a long drive, especially when driving alone, I listen to the news channel on the radio.  It gives me company ensuring that I do not doze off, keeps me informed of what is happening around the world.  The channel updates me every ten minutes with the traffic and weather report.  Suddenly I saw the car 200 m ahead of me and the 70 feet long truck in the right lane, coming to a screeching halt.  I immediately applied the brakes and halted behind the car with the truck on my right.

I looked out in front and saw two geese and about a dozen goslings crossing the road from the grass on the left to the farm on the right, must be in search of food.   Seeing the sizes of the goslings, it became evident that they belonged to two different mothers.  The ganders must have flown out in search of food, leaving the mothers to look after the goslings.

After about two minutes of halting, the radio was reporting the hold-up on the highway caused by the goslings.  The channel was giving a running commentary, giving out every detail of the event.  Looking to my right I saw the news reporter who was responsible for the live broadcast – it was the truck driver on his cell-phone; he must  have called up the news channel.  The news channel as usual must have been hungry for news, especially in a country where there is hardly any political rallies or hartals or bomb-blasts or scams or rail/ road accidents to report.

It took the crossing operation about ten minutes and there was a mile long lineup of vehicles on the highway.  Once the geese and the goslings had crossed the road, the traffic started to roll.

I returned home by about 11 PM and as I steered the car into the driveway of our home, I found our daughter walking in.  She generally is home by 10:30 PM after her classes in the university getting over by 10 PM followed by a 20 minute bus ride.  I inquired about the delayed arrival and she had her story to narrate.

The bus she took from the university, while traveling on the highway, the driver noticed a crack on the windscreen.  He pulled the vehicle off the road to the apron on the right and parked it with the flashers on.  The driver briefed the passengers about the situation and advised everyone to remain calm and remain seated until the replacement bus arrived.

The highways have two aprons on either side.  The one on the left is marked with a continuous yellow line and is meant for the emergency services like police, ambulance or firefighters.  The one on the right is marked with a continuous white line and can be used to stop the vehicles in an emergency like this or may be used by the emergency services.

After about three minutes of halting the bus, two police cruisers pulled up behind the halted bus with their lights flashing.  One parked about 10 meters behind and the other about 400 meters behind the halted bus. The policeman in the second cruiser closed off the right most lane with flares.

After about 15 minutes, the replacement bus arrived which was parked in front of the halted bus.  The police gave an all clear signal after ensuring the safety and the bus driver briefed all passengers to alight from the bus and move into the replacement bus.  That was the time when the driver opened the door.  The two police men were guiding the passengers to the replacement bus.  After everyone boarded the bus, the policemen signaled the bus to go.

One evening I was crossing a busy traffic signal in the city center while walking our dog Maximus. The collar came off the neck of Maximus, who was following me and without realising that Maximus was not there at the other end of the leash. I crossed over. Maximus kept standing in the middle of the road and when I reached the other end of the road and turned back, the signal at the intersection had changed.

No traffic moved and no one honked. I ran to Maximus and held him by his ear and ran to the other end of the road. Lucky for Maximus that no one honked, otherwise he would have ran in panic causing major chaos.

In Canada, the Criminal Code of Canada controls human behavior in relation to animals.  As per the Canadian laws,  animals are considered property. Property rights include the rights of possession, the rights of use, and the enjoyment of property. The original animal cruelty sections of the Criminal Code were enacted in 1892 with only minor amendments made in the mid-1950’s.  It is an offence to wilfully cause or, being the owner, wilfully permits to be cause unnecessary pain, suffering or injury to an animal or a bird.

All lives are precious – whether it is of humans, animals or birds.

(Illustration by Thomas Graham)

Enormous flames are no longer consuming the city of Fort McMurray, but the wildfire is still active and classified as ‘out of control’ by the Alberta government.  The wildfire travelled 25 to 30 km East and as of 03 May afternoon, it covered about 2300 square kilometres of boreal coniferous forests.  The wildfire of Fort McMurray was christened ‘Beast’ by the firefighters.

The main reason the fire got bigger is that the main Fort McMurray fire merged with a much smaller, separate fire that had been burning to the North-East.  The fire grew due to the favourable weather conditions of heat, dryness and wind.  The firefighters were in the lookout for less windy days, rain, cooler temperatures and more humidity in the air in order to bring the wildfire under control.

Flames were only visible at the front of the large active wildfire, and he rest was ‘fields of just black ash’ left behind.  That huge burnt area is extremely dangerous and firefighters have months of work ahead of them.  They are carrying out infrared scans from the air to find ‘hot spots’ where smoke continues to smoulder underground.

About 700 firefighters were working on the Fort McMurray wildfire.  Twenty-six helicopters were being used to transport crews and to pick up and drop water.  13 air tanker planes (water bombers) were carrying water or fire retardant.  It is estimated that there is a total of 1,547 firefighters, 121 helicopters and 28 water bombers battling 25 wildfires across Alberta right now.

Most of those fires are classified as ‘under control.’  Only the Fort McMurray wildfire remained ‘out of control.’

Displaced Fort McMurray residents are getting more resources to help ease their predicament. The Canadian government says it will work to speed up employment insurance claims; Canada Post has announced a mail forwarding program free of charge for Fort McMurray and area residents; and Western Union is waiving money-transfer fees so Canadians can send money to Alberta more easily. Many retailers, pharmacists and others are offering services for those in need.

The evacuation of over 80,000 residents was carried out in an orderly manner.  Police officers helped re-fuel vehicles and generous residents offered these families a place to stay for the night.  The bright lights of RCMP cruisers helped the drivers to remain on road, while above, Canadian Forces helicopters searched for any signs of danger to the fleeing traffic.  There was also a massive airlift of more than 16,000 people.  Wildfire evacuees were mainly accommodated at the University of Alberta residences.

The hospital in Fort McMurray was evacuated – 73 acute care patients and 32 continuing care patients – were flown to Edmonton health care facilities to receive care.

Cooler temperatures, higher moisture in the air and lighter winds helped efforts to suppress the fire.   The fire was moving away from Fort McMurray in a South-East direction and unlikely to be a threat as the area is mainly wild land and away from habitation.

An average of 1,200 wildfires are reported in Alberta each year, and half of those fires are caused by humans, according to the National Fire Database.  Lightning is the second-leading cause with 47 per cent.  The fire’s proximity to the city, as well as data that shows that there were no lightning strikes in the area, directly leads to the inference that the cause of the fire was most likely human.

Weather is a crucial enabler of wildfires.  In the days before the wildfire, the weather in Fort McMurray was unseasonably warm, with strong winds and lack of rains.  All combined, it was the ideal scenario for a small fire to grow and spread.  The high temperatures were part of a year-long pattern attributed to El Nino, a periodic warming of waters in the East-Central Pacific Ocean that was at its strongest in recent months since 1997-98.

With summer-like temperatures and continuing tinder-dry conditions, the Alberta Province has banned the use of off-highway vehicles on public lands and provincial parks.  Flying of helicams and drones is banned as it may cause hindrance to the many fire-fighting aircrafts operating in the area.  A province-wide fire ban is in effect.  All open fires, including campfires and charcoal briquettes are prohibited.

In the fight against climate change, forests play a critical role — drawing more greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere than they emit.  But when they burn, much of those stored gases are released back into the atmosphere.  For 6,000 years boreal forests have operated on a cycle of growth, fire, and re-growth.  It will take at least a decade before the forests destroyed by the fires in Fort McMurray are storing more carbon than they are releasing.

Such big wildfires affect plant succession and result in rejuvenation of the process of the maturation of plant systems.  Plant succession refers to changes in vegetation in a specific area over a period of time and is dependent on factors like disasters, changing conditions or human activity. While area of wildlife will adjust to these changes over time, the fire would have been catastrophic to most animals in the area.  The bears and the wolves are going to be destroyed in the first instance but it won’t be long for them to be back in the system

Within one to three years, bears are actually likely to benefit from the fires as there will be a good chance of massive berry crops like blueberries emerging, allowing bears to return and do quite well. Wolves’ success would depend on species like moose and deer that are found in the early stages of the evolution of the forest.

Forest fires are a natural phenomenon, and are beneficial ecologically, returning valuable nutrients to the soil that helps a natural rebirth.  Such fires naturally occur in forests every 150 to 250 years.  With changing global weather patterns, the scientist fear that the frequency of wildfires occurring may even reduce to 50 years.

At least nine major oil companies, including Syncrude and Suncor, suspended operations after the wildfire broke out, leaving Alberta’s oil production down by more than a million barrels per day – half of the province’s daily output and one third of Canada’s.  8,000 oilsands workers were evacuated on 16 May as the fire was approaching the oil production facilities.  The fire is not expected to create much havoc as these facilities have some fire treatment in place that will hopefully prevent them seeing too much impact from the fire.

The Russian President Vladimir Putin offered the services of IL-76 water bombers, capable of dumping 42 tons of fire retardant into fire spots.  Canada, however, turned down the offer.  The most difficult part of fighting a forest fire is coordinating smoky skies filled with low-flying helicopters and water bombers.  It is why, over the past few years often the only fatalities in major fires have been due to air crashes.  It would be difficult for the Russian pilots to communicate with the Canadian English speaking firefighters on ground, pilots operating in the area and air effort coordinators.

A pilot died in 2011 when his firefighting helicopter crashed, and another pilot died in 2015 in a water-bomber crash while fighting a wildfires in Alberta. However, there have been no civilian fatalities because of a forest fire since 1938.

Fort McMurray has been sealed off for days, for other than those involved in the firefighting efforts.  Media persons accompanied the Alberta Premier Rachel Notley on her first visit to the area on 09 May; six days after the area was evacuated.  The Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, visited the area to compliment the firefighters for their efforts to combat the fire only on 13 May.  The PM was of the opinion that when firefighters were busy trying to contain a massive raging wildfire, it is not a helpful thing for him to pay a visit.  Such visits would cause a drain on the firefighting resources and would only prove to be a hindrance.  Are other world leaders listening?

There were many rumours taking round about the wildfire.  A post in Facebook claimed “Eco-Terrorism suspected in Fort McMurray fire.”  The next was of an arsonist setting the fire.   This rumour actually attracted RCMP attention and asked firefighters in the area to keep on guard for lone wanderers. The mysterious fires that prompted the rumour were later found to be flaring up hotspots, a common phenomenon in forest fires.  Also, Fort McMurray is a remote city now populated almost exclusively by police, utility workers and firefighters just waiting to get their hands on a suspected arsonist.  The website ConservativeFans.com ran with the recklessly unsourced allegation that a man with purported ISIL connections had taken responsibility for the fire.

While the full extent of the damage isn’t yet known, we certainly do know that, for those who have been affected by this fire, it is absolutely devastating. It is a loss on a scale that is hard for many of us to imagine.  The biggest lesson learned for any community in preparing for disaster, is to have connections and know the people.  There is a need for everyone to be familiar with the disaster plan in their area and have an emergency bag packed.  The stronger the community is beforehand the better they are going to do after in the recovery.

More than 80,000 residents of Fort McMurray, its entire population, are now entering their third week away from home with no word on when they may be able to return.

A study report published on 11 April 2016 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) by a team of doctors lead by Dr Marcelo Urquia, from St Michael’s Hospital, Toronto about variations in male-female infant ratios among births to Canadian and Indian-born mothers, has caught the eye of many and raised a few eye brows.  Dr. Marcelo Urquia is an epidemiologist with a special interest in improving perinatal health, particularly for immigrant mothers and their children.

The study examined birth certificate data of 5.8 million singleton live births to Canadian-born women and 1,77,990 similar births to Indian-born women. The data pertained to births between 1990 and 2011.  The study did not examine the cases of abortions or feticides.  The results of the study are indeed quite alarming.  The study reports that women who emigrated from India and already had two children gave birth to 138 boys for every 100 girls. If they already had three children, they gave birth to 166 males for every 100 females. That ratio rises to 326 boys per 100 girls for those with two daughters who had an abortion preceding her third birth. In some cases, the number of abortions these mothers have undergone would surprise many.  Among Canadian-born mothers, male-female ratios were about 105 males for every 100 females, with negligible fluctuations by birth order, year and province.

The study also noted that children born to an Indian-born fathers skewed the ratio towards more boys per 100 girls at the second and higher birth orders immaterial of whether the mother was  of Indian origin or otherwise.

In Canada, it is a woman’s right to undergo an abortion and is legal and government funded.  No questions are asked regarding the reasons.  It appears that this option has been unduly exploited by the group under study.  Abortion of female fetuses after prenatal ultrasonography, is the most commonly cited explanation in settings where son preference and strong patriarchal cultures are prevalent.  Indians in Canada celebrate the birth of a boy and the celebrations begin from the birthing room.  In contrast, birth of a girl spreads a pall of gloom among family members.

Until 1988, Canada’s Criminal Code required women who wished to have an abortion to satisfy a therapeutic abortion committee, established by a hospital, that the continuation of her pregnancy would be likely to endanger her life or health.  However, in the case of Dr. Henry Morgentaler, Dr. Leslie Frank Smoling and Dr. Robert Scott Vs Her Majesty The Queen, the Supreme Court held that this provision violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  The Charter provides that “everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.”

Since 1988, Canada has not had a law prohibiting any type of abortions including abortions for the purpose of sex selection.  Physicians in Canada normally do not perform abortions after the twenty-fourth week of a pregnancy, unless the health of the woman is in serious jeopardy even though they cannot be prosecuted for doing so.

As per the study, the skewed sex ratio among Indian immigrants in Canada has resulted in about 4,472 missing girls. The actual number of missing girls may be much higher in case repeated induced abortions of female foetuses by this group are taken into account.  These missing girls translate into a deficit in the number of newborn girls to Indian immigrants in Canada to around 200 per year.

Sex Ratio is a term used to define number of females per 1000 males. In most developed countries, the ratio is about 1001 to 1007.  Europe has the best ratio, mostly among the erstwhile Soviet Bloc countries.  The Asian countries, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bhutan, China and India have more male population compared to females.

A study of the Census of India 2011 would throw some light into this skewed sex ratio which stands at 940.  Among the States, Kerala has the highest sex‐ratio of 1084 and Haryana has the lowest of 877.  Considering various religious groups, Sikhs have the lowest sex ratio (786) followed by Jains.  It is interesting to note that the sex ratio is much higher among the tribal groups (976,) although they have the lowest literacy rate (47%) among all ethnic groups.  On the other hand, Jains have the highest literacy rate (94.1%), yet they have the second lowest sex ratio (870,) next only to Sikhs.

This should be a pointer enough to gauge the reasons for the skewed sex ratio among Indo-Canadian children with the highest single ethnic group being Sikhs followed by Gujaratis.  The Indian ethnic groups that contribute to the skewed ratio are obviously more in Canada when compared to the Indians in USA. Also the abortion laws in many of the states in USA are not as liberal as in Canada.

Let me cite a personnel anecdote in this connection. Sitting outside the operation theatre during the C-Section for Nikhil’s birth, the Gynecologist wanted a final confirmation whether to conduct the tubectomy operation too.  I signed the document to confirm the same and handed it over to the Gynecologist.  My mother who was with me asked me whether I would feel bad in case it is a daughter this time too, to which I replied “Never.”  I asked her as to how she had four sons and she said that my father very much wanted a daughter after two sons and when my mother was pregnant with me, they all thought it would be girl.  After I was born and my mother was pregnant the fourth time, my father still held hope that it would be a girl, but my mother said that she always knew it would be another boy.  After my younger brother’s birth, my mother called it a day and got her tubes tied.

During my service with the Indian Army, I always perceived that the girls in the cantonments always outnumbered the boys.  Among the Gunners (Artillery), the saying was that good Gunners always had a daughter as their first child and the better Gunners had two daughters.    It is obviously the girls who are in the forefront among the Indian Army kids.  Please Click Here to read my earlier blog about their achievements and reasons for the military girls in the forefront.

(Illustration by Thomas Graham)

In 2006 my mother expressed her desire to spend a few months with us in Canada.  Nidhi and Nikhil were thrilled about the arrival of Granny, but Marina and I were a bit apprehensive.  My mother is a diabetic patient and also has complications with her heart.  My brothers were also a bit apprehensive, keeping in mind her medical conditions and her age (72 years then).  My mother, a strong lady that she is, was totally determined to undertake the journey across the seven seas and told everyone in the family that she would be back for Christmas.

She had stayed with us for over two months at almost all our stations of posting, Jammu & Kashmir, Sikkim, Assam, Bengal. Delhi, Pune and Devlali (Maharashtra).  While commanding the unit at Devlali, with Marina away in Canada, my mother  effectively and efficiently discharged the duties of the ‘First Lady’ and chief hostess at home.

Come what may, we decided to get Granny across to Canada and we got her Visa formalities completed.  On 30 June 2006, Marina and kids took off to Kerala and stayed there for two weeks and on their return trip, they were accompanied by Granny.  Both the children took extra care of the Granny throughout the 20 hours of the flight to Toronto from Kochi and also during her stay here.  Nidhi, a fifteen year old teen, accompanied her Granny umpteen times to the washroom, held her hand and walked with her in the malls, while visiting places of interest, calling on friends etc.  At night Nidhi had Granny sleeping with her and she got up at the middle of the night or whenever Granny wanted to visit the washroom.

My mother was a middle school  teacher who taught English and Maths.  The school being Malayalam medium, English lessons would commence from Grade 5.  My mother had done two years Teacher Training Course (TTC) after passing Grade 10.  She started teaching when she was seventeen (1949) and she then had many students much elder to her, some married and some even with children.  Most of the teachers belonged to our village and many were distantly related to our family.

A week after her arrival in Canada, we decided to visit Montreal and take a boat cruise through the St Lawrence River to see various places where pitched battles were fought between the English and French and also historic buildings in Old Montreal.  Montreal is about 550 km (about 6 hours by car) from Toronto and is located in Quebec Province with French as the main language.

We set off for Montreal on a Saturday morning and after two hours of drive, we decided to have a break and drove into a restaurant.  I ordered coffee and doughnut and my mother too wanted the same.  I advised her that doughnut is pretty high in sugar and would do no good to her diabetics.  My mother was very adamant (once she becomes adamant, there is no way out) and Nidhi picked up a dozen assorted varieties of doughnuts and coffee for everyone.  Nidhi explained to her Granny as to what each doughnut was and what they contained (I cannot name more than a couple).  Granny had a look, felt her fingers over a few doughnuts and started sipping her black coffee.  I asked her as to why she was not eating the doughnut she replied that she only wanted to see what a doughnut was and then burst out laughing.

The children became curious about Granny’s laughter and immediately wanted to know the reason for such an unexpected outburst.  My mother started off with her narrative.

One day at school, the high school English teachers asked her as to what a doughnut was.  Such queries always came to her being the senior-most in the middle school and also being better read and travelled than most teachers in the school.  That was the first time she heard the word doughnut and she did not have any clue.  She asked for the context where it appeared and she was told that the line in the text book read “He had doughnut with coffee.”  Now she thought for a while and applying her logical mind said that it may be a nut as it was being taken with coffee.  It was now that she realised what an actual doughnut was.

After exploring the area around and visiting Niagara Falls, it was time for her to get back to Kerala as the severe Canadian winter was fast approaching.  By first week of November, I accompanied her on her return journey.  That was when I realised how difficult it would have been for Marina and Nidhi to manage her during the 20 hour flight.

On reaching Kochi airport all the grand children were there to receive their Granny, whom they missed for five months.  One of them remarked “Till date Granny was National, now she has become International”.

  Thomas Graham is a young artist from Mississauga, Canada.  He after graduating from Grade 12 in June 2015, is selected to join the prestigious Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) University, Toronto, to pursue a degree in illustration and is looking to become an illustrator by profession.