Bamboo Bamboozled

Mizoram is a tiny state in the northeastern corner of India. The citizens of that state depend on bamboo for their livelihood. About every 48 years or so, the bamboo blossoms and produces fruit that attract rats. I don't mean a few rats, I mean jungle rats that devour everything in site, including all the surrounding crops that annually grow and nourish the people of Mizoram. The result is famine and death for many of those citizens. This year the bamboo is beginning to flower once again and the million or so inhabitants are in dire straits. This is an example of balance but at its extreme. Would you accept forty-eight years of relative abundance for one year of devistation? Not an equal trade and one that leave the people of that region helpless. They've tried traps and poisons but in the past nothing had helped. About their only recourse is to accept the inevitable...or move from their homeland. If you would life to read more, check out the December issue of Vanity Fair. The excellent article is written by Alex Shoumatoff.