When a monstrous amalgamation of tsunami and earthquake struck Japan in March 2011, there were speculations if the island country would be erased from the world map. Such was the magnitude of the devastation.
Tens and thousands of people were reported dead, injured and missing. An unthinkable amount of buildings collapsed, breaking the infrastructural impulse of the country. Roads got destroyed, railway lines got uprooted and fires got spread at frightening scales. Millions of households were rendered without electricity and water. It was nationally and officially stated that the disaster was the most catastrophic since World War II.
Well, let me now arrive at something; something that reflects the attitude of the nation and its people on the face of adversity.
There was dignity that the people held despite losing everything. Proper queues were maintained for water and groceries. And there was not a single exchange of a rough word or gesture. People had grace. They only purchased what they wanted at present, so that everybody could get something. Despite such times of turmoil, they did not allow greed to invade their minds. People chose to be orderly. No looting in shops; no honking or overtaking on roads. It was understanding alone that drove people.
Not just the victims, but even the other side of the populace displayed benevolence and tenderness. Restaurants cut prices and unguarded ATMs were left alone. It was the time when the strong felt responsible and cared for the weak.
Coming to June 2013, where the state of Uttarakhand is being shattered and getting detrimental with the mammoth amount of floods, I would like to draw a stark comparison between the post-disaster scenario of Japan and India.
The Uttarakhand flood, though not as ruining as the Japanese tsunami, still has colossal destruction to its credit. Several people are dead, and thousands have gone missing. Structures, irrespective of their age and strength, had surrendered to crumples to the force of water. The lurking disaster had been yanking the strings of peoples' minds, and is continuing to do so. People who were gone, are gone. And people who had fortunately escaped alive, seem to detest the fact that they are alive, for the businessmen and shopkeepers around seem to take the best advantage of the disadvantaged.
Biscuit packets and water bottles, which don't cost more than twenty bucks anywhere in the country, suddenly had started costing ten times more. If one wanted a full meal for a family of four, he would have to give away with a minimum of five-thousand rupees. And those who cannot afford the luxury of lodges or boarding points, have nothing left but to sleep on dead-bodies.
How disheartening, cruel and inhumane.
What has this disaster brought us? Awareness? Awakening? Or the very bitter fact that we Indians are just beings of corrupt flesh and greedy blood enclosing a heart as hard as stone and as cold as ice?
Tens and thousands of people were reported dead, injured and missing. An unthinkable amount of buildings collapsed, breaking the infrastructural impulse of the country. Roads got destroyed, railway lines got uprooted and fires got spread at frightening scales. Millions of households were rendered without electricity and water. It was nationally and officially stated that the disaster was the most catastrophic since World War II.
Well, let me now arrive at something; something that reflects the attitude of the nation and its people on the face of adversity.
There was dignity that the people held despite losing everything. Proper queues were maintained for water and groceries. And there was not a single exchange of a rough word or gesture. People had grace. They only purchased what they wanted at present, so that everybody could get something. Despite such times of turmoil, they did not allow greed to invade their minds. People chose to be orderly. No looting in shops; no honking or overtaking on roads. It was understanding alone that drove people.
Not just the victims, but even the other side of the populace displayed benevolence and tenderness. Restaurants cut prices and unguarded ATMs were left alone. It was the time when the strong felt responsible and cared for the weak.
Coming to June 2013, where the state of Uttarakhand is being shattered and getting detrimental with the mammoth amount of floods, I would like to draw a stark comparison between the post-disaster scenario of Japan and India.
The Uttarakhand flood, though not as ruining as the Japanese tsunami, still has colossal destruction to its credit. Several people are dead, and thousands have gone missing. Structures, irrespective of their age and strength, had surrendered to crumples to the force of water. The lurking disaster had been yanking the strings of peoples' minds, and is continuing to do so. People who were gone, are gone. And people who had fortunately escaped alive, seem to detest the fact that they are alive, for the businessmen and shopkeepers around seem to take the best advantage of the disadvantaged.
Biscuit packets and water bottles, which don't cost more than twenty bucks anywhere in the country, suddenly had started costing ten times more. If one wanted a full meal for a family of four, he would have to give away with a minimum of five-thousand rupees. And those who cannot afford the luxury of lodges or boarding points, have nothing left but to sleep on dead-bodies.
How disheartening, cruel and inhumane.
What has this disaster brought us? Awareness? Awakening? Or the very bitter fact that we Indians are just beings of corrupt flesh and greedy blood enclosing a heart as hard as stone and as cold as ice?
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