by M.V. Mathew, Mannumkal

Sitting in the Geography class in school, I remember how delighted I was when we were being taught all about the Dead Sea. As you probably recall, the Dead Sea is really a Lake, not a sea. Its so high in salt content that the human body can float easily. You can almost lie down and read a book ! The salt in the Dead Sea is as high as 35%-almost 10 times the normal ocean water. And all that saltiness has meant that there is no life at all in the Dead Sea. No fish. No vegetation. No sea animals. Nothing lives in the sea and hence the name Dead Sea.

While the Dead Sea has remained etched in my memory, I don't seem to recall learning about the Sea of Galilee in my school Geography lesson. So when I heard about the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea and the tale of the two seas, I was fascinated. Sea of Galilee is just north of the Dead Sea. Both the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea receive their water from river Jordan. And yet, they are very, very different. Unlike the Dead Sea, the Sea of Galilee is pretty resplendent with rich, colorful marine life. There are lots of plants. and lots of fish too. In fact, the sea of Galilee is home to over twenty different types of fishes.

Same region, same source of water, and yet while one sea is full of life, the other is dead. How come? Here is apparently why. The River Jordan flows into the Sea of Galilee and then flows out. The water simply passes through the Sea of Galilee in and then out - and that keeps the Sea healthy and vibrant, teeming with marine life.

But the Dead Sea is so far below the mean sea level, that it has no outlet. The water flows in from the river Jordan, but does not flow out. There are no outlet streams. It is estimated that over 7 million tons of water evaporate from the Dead Sea every day, leaving it salty. Too full of minerals. And unfit for any marine life. The Dead Sea takes water from the river Jordan, and holds it. It does not give. Result? No life at all.

To a certain extent people are like the Dead Sea. Life is not just about getting. Its about giving. We need to be a bit like the Sea of Galilee. We are fortunate to get wealth, knowledge, love and respect. But if we don't learn to give, we could all end up like the Dead Sea. The love and the respect, the wealth and the knowledge could all evaporate. Like the water in the Dead Sea. If we get the Dead Sea mentality of merely taking in more water, more money, more everything the results can be disastrous.