By Tinky Ningombam
It’s all bollocks, says NASA, intelligence units and the world’s top astronomers including Rev. Jose Funes, director of the Vatican Observatory. But believe in the apocalyptic prophesy and you have just above 4 days till the end of the world as we know it. The doomsday prophesies are as dramatic:
· Our planet colliding with a mythical rogue planet called Nibiru (Planet X)
· A comet crashing into earth’s surface
· A giant solar storm sweeping life off earth
· A black hole in the center of the galaxy that will swallow up the planet
· Planetary alignment to shift the magnetic poles of the earth (as seen in the amazing rendition of the doomsday prophesy in the Hollywood movie “2012”)
Humor the rumor and what we have is a giddy mix of jokes and witty connotations. And we have all and sundry counting down to the day of doom. Most of these mythical predictions have been interpreted from the foretold doomsday prophesy by ancient Mayan hieroglyphs. The Mayan Long Count calendar began in 3,114 B.C., and was divided in Baktuns. Baktuns are roughly periods of 394-years and due to a much debated and mysterious reason, their calendar ended with the 13th Baktun which happens to suspiciously leave Dec. 21 of 2012 as the last day in their calendar.
Another ancient prophesy seems to bear the apocalyptic hint. The hopi Native American Calendar also believes that the end of the world is near. Their prophesy proclaims that “The Fourth World shall end soon, and the Fifth World will begin…” So this followed by nine signs of the decadent age will lead to unfathomable destruction. “The world shall rock to and fro. The white man will battle against other people in other lands — with those who possessed the first light of wisdom. There will be many columns of smoke and fire such as White Feather has seen the white man make in the deserts not far from here. Only those which come will cause disease and a great dying.”
We are not new to doomsday prophesies. I was quite disappointed when Nostradamus failed in his predictions on the end of the world almost a decade ago. If we think of it, almost all civilizations have one doomsday theory or the other. As all things follow a cycle, so thus creation and annihilation. But talk as we may, this is not happening anytime soon. But, yes, these speculations are enough to get spiritualists having a field day with trying to decipher the End of the World prophesy, the impending mystery.
Looking at the extremities in the Armageddon prophesies, I am indeed glad that we have got intel on almost every extra-terrestial object that might affect Earth’s course to a longer life span. NASA`s Near Earth Object Program have been scanning our neighbourhood outer space and unless we have a bunch of DC comics’ supervillains such as the likes of Brainiac, Parallax or Spaceman X coming in and destroying our beloved planet earth, we will live to see more days. The same goes with meteorologists, scientists, geologists, all conjoined in rubbishing all claims of the destruction of earth.
Now in between all this hype about the day, it leaves us with no choice but to join in into the conversations. “Everyone is talking about it!” The only other thing that people like to talk about on Social Networks are the cool things they are planning to do when the world supposedly “ends”. End of the World parties are swarming which means more business for eat-outs and clubs just catching on the much talked about fad of the year. Christmas shopping just sinks in a wee bit earlier too with shoppers buying custom-made “End of the World” products. Now that’s what we are talking about, ain’t it ? Creative juice for most. This making 21st December one of the most over-rated date in the nearest history. And if that is not KEWL enough for you to be partying on the “day that everything ends,” then maybe you might want to cash out your life’s savings and set off for France where the town Bugarach hosts all the Mayan believers , who are apparently camping there to see the rest of the world perish. Eerie enough! This town is prophesied in the Mayan theory to be the only place destined to survive the doom. The metaphorical Ark, if we may.
However fun this building of mass hysteria sounds like, media, bloggers and social media geeks around the world are publicly debunking the myth of the apocalypse in an attempt to stop spiritualists and the eager and gullible(read DUMB) people from acting upon this wild-fire idea. News coming in from remote places in the world, that have caught on a fancy to the thought, have made some officials sit up and take notice of checks on any form of viral rumor mongering. And kid you not, this is a major cause of concern.
So folks, however much your obsession with the 21st is, it is NOT going to be the END. So, please do not quit your jobs, write hate letters to your boss, spend all your money on a binge shopping spree or tell your adopted kids that they are adopted. Not just YET. And don’t watch too much of sci-fi movies. There’s a reason they are called FICTION.
(While we can mutually agree that all social networks will run an overload of poor jokes and intolerable shares on THE day, the author has secretly vowed to unfriend all who would send her wishes on the 22nd to have survived the day of judgement. )