As I sit on my couch, watching deeply painful visuals
streaming out of Kedarnath tragedy, my mind is transported back in 2001 at
Ahmedabad; when earthquake shook my life and I faced Death for the first time!
That traumatic experience made me realize how fragile and vulnerable our life is at any
given moment!
Watching people searching for their family and loved ones, numb with
disbelief, crying while the television journalist focuses camera on them to
capture that perfect moment of utter helplessness can make an indelible mark on your mind. Despite the heart
wrenching pain, I can't stop watching the news in hope that somehow life at Uttarakhand would come back to normal and everybody stranded there will reach
home safely.
It is not easy to comprehend the impact, dimensions and magnitude of the destruction caused by flash floods, landslides and cloud bursts. Pilgrim sites are always vulnerable with
overload of devotees and become potential venues for the tragedies when such
calamities occur. The saddest part is our lackadaisical attitude of "sab kuch chalta
hain" that is accommodating
of just about everything. Everything is justified, even the most painful events
and its outcome as "destiny". We accept all situations no matter how
grave, as part of the HUGE chaos that India is and move on with life without any
conscience of the irresponsible wrongs contributed with tokenism of endless rhetoric.
Death, in India does not always find meaning or dignity it truly deserves.
Nature's fury is not the only cause for Uttarakhand tragedy. Many a lives would have been saved if we had well-oiled disaster management department that could act promptly without having to worry about political tug of war. It is understandable how challenging it is to handle disaster of such a magnitude considering the fact that there was no specific timing or warning of impending tragedy from Indian meteorology department or any other body. The contribution of Indian army as always is absolutely commendable! But what pains me most, is deaths caused due to sloth and criminal negligence in handling this calamity. I agree, a catastrophe of such a scale is very complex to deal with and is a nightmare for even the most advanced nations but for a nation like India that boasts of its nuclear power and space programmes, tragic lapses like complete lack of coordination in handling rescue work, delay in reaching out to the people who were stranded, lack of systems in place to predict weather and send the alert, unchecked and unplanned development are some of the issues that are unacceptable.
Since the day this tragedy occurred, the pictures of unleashed rains cascading away human bodies, cattle, vehicles, homes and everything that comes in its way scroll on my mind. Picture of solitary Kedarnath shrine for me is yet another reminder of how fragile our life is. It is also a reminder that it is high time we purge whatever debris we are surrounded with literally and metaphorically.
Nature's fury is not the only cause for Uttarakhand tragedy. Many a lives would have been saved if we had well-oiled disaster management department that could act promptly without having to worry about political tug of war. It is understandable how challenging it is to handle disaster of such a magnitude considering the fact that there was no specific timing or warning of impending tragedy from Indian meteorology department or any other body. The contribution of Indian army as always is absolutely commendable! But what pains me most, is deaths caused due to sloth and criminal negligence in handling this calamity. I agree, a catastrophe of such a scale is very complex to deal with and is a nightmare for even the most advanced nations but for a nation like India that boasts of its nuclear power and space programmes, tragic lapses like complete lack of coordination in handling rescue work, delay in reaching out to the people who were stranded, lack of systems in place to predict weather and send the alert, unchecked and unplanned development are some of the issues that are unacceptable.
Since the day this tragedy occurred, the pictures of unleashed rains cascading away human bodies, cattle, vehicles, homes and everything that comes in its way scroll on my mind. Picture of solitary Kedarnath shrine for me is yet another reminder of how fragile our life is. It is also a reminder that it is high time we purge whatever debris we are surrounded with literally and metaphorically.
