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“I was at the Selaka Shopping Complex at Galle
(Srilanka). There was a great hissing sound and the sea seemed to be caving in. Within seconds, a great wave came rushing in to the shore, destroying everything and sweeping away everybody who was in the way. Everyone vanished in a second. The whole town was destroyed, along with people at the bus stand and vehicles on the road within few seconds. It is like a dream. I have never seen anything like it.”
“I was sunbathing with my girlfriend on the beach in Phuket (Thailand) when suddenly I heard an unbelievably loud roar; it sounded like I was standing next to an airplane as it took off. I looked up and found a 20-foot high wall of water coming at me -- it looked like a scene from the Ten Commandments. My girlfriend and I just got up and started running for our lives. The water caught up with us and briefly pulled us under before we surfaced and somehow managed to hold onto a utility pole. Finally the water subsided and we were able to make it uphill to safety. We saw at least 25 bodies float by.”
“I witnessed the most horrible scene in my life: people running for their lives, dead bodies on the road, mothers crying. I've never seen anything like this in my life. Entire fishing villages have been wiped out, huge cars floating. The bodies of children no older than seven are lying on the beach (Chennai).”
As I sat reading reports from people all over the world, the fact that life is short and unpredictable has never hit home more intensely. It has been an emotionally exhausting past few days as all of us have watched the aftermath of the Tsunami tragedy. The images have been horrific, the stories even more heart rending.
Last night the story that shook me was that of a mother running with a 20 month old baby in her arms, while holding the hand of her five year old other son. As the killer waves threatened to engulf her, she had to make the horrible choice of letting one child go to save the other. What would any one of us do in the circumstances? How dare any one, even nature, force a mother to make such a choice? As I watched the story unfold with a lump in my throat and tears stinging my eyes, I tried putting myself in that mother’s shoes, and just that thought brought intense feelings of helplessness, anguish and heartbreak. The mother let go off the five year old. Luckily he survived and was later reunited with his mother. But his story was more an exception than the rule.
The tragedy hit on 26th December-the biggest earthquake since the past 40 years,(9.0) about 100 miles from Banda Aceh in Indonesia, the massive waves obliterating whatever came in the way. The impact spread to 10 other countries including India. It brought back haunting memories of another story I did 3 years ago on the Gujarat earthquake also eerily happening on the 26th of the month- 26th January 2001, destroying parts of the Rann of Kutch and the lives of thousands of people. The haunting images of three years ago merged with the images I sit and watch today-distraught parents holding bodies of dead children, people from all walks of life, rendered equal in the eyes of the malevolent waves of destruction that lashed out indiscriminately, sending princes and paupers, the extraordinary and the ordinary, the famous and the unknown to watery graves with equal viciousness.
I remember Mrs. Madhu Sheth( who had been in Kutch at the time the earthquake hit) telling me how the millionaire friend in whose house she had had dinner just a little while ago, was out on the street looking for someone to lend him 5 rupees to buy a cup of tea. Many friends she had met had lost family members, their home, and their wealth. “Their lives changed in 90 seconds.” It was something that reinforced her belief that we should never think we are invincible no matter how high we fly in life. It takes a mere 90 seconds to turn our lives into rubble.
As the death toll continues climbing-it was past the 150,000 mark when I saw reports an hour ago, there is fear that there will be many more deaths from diseases like typhoid, malaria, cholera and dysentery especially in worst-hit areas of Sri Lanka, India and Indonesia, where debris filled seawater, the sewage, hot and humid weather, and decomposing bodies may add to the already unhygienic conditions that is part and parcel of the daily lives of people living in these countries.
As we struggle to understand what causes such a natural disaster to occur, and accusations that this could have been avoided if equipment to monitor sea-level changes and a tsunami warning and protection system linking link local, state, national and global agencies had been in place, the important thing is to focus on how each one of us can help.
While it shouldn’t take tragedies like these to bring out the best in people, it is really wonderful to see how the gentler, kinder and truly humane side of humanity has re-emerged from the rust of self gratification, to reach out and embrace those who have been left destitute and broken. It has been heartwarming to see and read stories of people who have lost everything, reaching out to help others, in spite of their own personal heartbreak and loss.
The world has pledged I billion dollars, out of which the United States had pledged a mere 35 million! It’s interesting that Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer matched that very easily. This brought a spate of protests from the world and an interesting article by David Shuster (forwarded to me by my friend Ajit who works for Pfizer and was so proud of his company’s generosity!). In his article Shuster points out that US is the wealthiest nation on the planet. “To "help" the citizens of Iraq, our government is spending 5.8 BILLION dollars each MONTH. That translates to more than 8 million dollars an
hour. Or put another way, the $35 million we have pledged in disaster aid for Southeast Asia is less than the amount the U.S. military spent during the six hours it took on Sunday for the tsunami to cross the Indian Ocean.” Writes Schuster.
And just in case some people may say rehabilitating Iraq is a priority, Schuster adds that since 1985 the program for “shrimp aquaculture research” received 61 million dollars, and 3 million just last year. Three million was sanctioned for the Utah Public Lands "Artifact Preservation" program and hold your breath, $50 million for an "indoor rainforest project" in Iowa! “It's embarrassing that at the moment, a disaster affecting more than a million people is only ten times more important than preserving artifacts in Utah or studying the behavior of shrimp, and is valued less than building an Iowa rainforest (or occupying Iraq for 6 hours.)” says Schuster and rightly adds that at this time of worldwide horror and grief for the thousands killed by the tsunami, and millions of others rendered homeless, why not start with a billion dollar pledge? “Compared to 35 million dollars, a billion would generate worldwide headlines and amazement... and it would immediately give people across this earth a reason to be thankful for the United States. And given recent polls showing that hatred for the U.S. is at an all-time high, we could certainly use a better image.”
President Bush has added ongoing help to his initial pledge of 35 million, but like Schuster rightly says, “I just don't understand why we aren't making that statement right from the start, when the message of hope is needed most. The United States I know is the one that leads and sets an example for the rest of the planet not one that sits quietly and waits.”
As we go to press, in the wake of criticism, and egg on it’s face, US has finally upped its aid amount to 350 million, but President Bush still has not seen it necessary to show up in public and offer his thoughts on the tragedy. This is almost as bad as him showing his golf swing in Fahrenheit 9/11 after his seemingly phony comment on urging all nations to fight terrorism.
As ships and aircrafts laden with supplies, along with teams of doctors and relief workers from different countries have started pouring into the disaster areas, the task ahead is of mammoth proportions. Here in Atlanta several local south Asian organizations are collecting donations. BAPS held a prayer meeting on December 29th and Ritesh Desai told me it was very heartening to see members and media from so many different ethnic groups come in and pledge their support both personally and financially to aid BAPS in its efforts at rehabilitating those devastated by the tragedy. Robin Raina’s foundation has started by pledging $20,000 from its funds with a promise of adding two dollars to every dollar contribution sent to the foundation.
“There is a popular Buddhist saying in Srilanka,’ wrote Paul Sussman in an email I read on line, “life is no more than a dew drop balancing on the end of a blade of grass. The events of December 26 have shown just how precarious that balance can be.” Not just that, it also brings home the realization how important it is to live your life to the fullest and in the present moment, and to give of yourself, your time, your love, generously. It took 90 seconds for the Gujarat earthquake to turn princes into paupers, and less than a day to destroy villages and resorts and thousands of precious lives by the tsunami waves. No one really knows what tomorrow brings or who will be at the receiving end of the wrath of life.
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