Friday, August 20, 2010

Beauty Enchants, Fury Hurts

Speak of Leh and there is a slideshow flashing through my mind, of the beautiful scenery, the chocolate brown mountains, the alluring crystal clear lakes and streams, the shy monks and the peace of the monasteries. Not that I have ever been to Leh, but thanks to my best friend and her mail with 1500 (plus) pictures of one of India’s most beautiful, pure and serene lands, untouched by the devils of commercialization; it soon became an entrant into my list of ‘must-visit’ places on Earth. I would scroll through the album over and over again just to behold the bewitching calm and the resplendent divinity of the sight afore, though in the form of mere pictures. The next instant, the adventure-enthusiast in me was already making plans, and I found myself checking out all about the place - the summer months, the average temperature, winter season, rainy season, the best time to trek around and the likes. Apparently, June to September is considered the best visiting time, when the Sun God is affable; albeit the winters are harsh and cold.

I still find it difficult to believe what has happened; it is as if I am having a nightmare! If the news of the calamity that disturbed the aura of one of the few remaining abodes of Buddhism in South Asia is paralyzing, I wonder what the people who witnessed the catastrophe would be going through at this point. August 6 would be forever etched in the memory of each and every countryman who feels for those who are suffering the brutal attack of nature. The thought of a whole city crumbling down into a pile of rubble under the force of nature gives me the chills. It is difficult to believe that a city that usually receives very little rainfall is now flooded, with many places buried ten feet deep under muddy water. The calm and colorful natural beauty of the locale is now replaced by the noise of the brown gushing muddy water. The cloudburst came as a surprise and within a matter of minutes it left behind a scarred future. The damaged schools, hospitals, bus terminals, radio station transmitters, telephone exchange and mobile phone towers, the lost lives and livelihoods, all are calling out to us - the lucky ones. With the winters round the corner, the renovation of the city, of homes, of every necessary construction will have to wait till the next summer comes. A year without shelter, doesn’t it give us goose bumps to even think about it? It does, because it is beyond our imagination.

Sympathizing is easy but can we empathize with the ones who have lost their near and dear ones, who have lost almost everything to the natural disaster? Sitting in the comforts and warmth of our homes, we possibly do not realize the enormity of the situation. The death toll has crossed 150, thousands of people are injured, and more than 200 are missing. We cannot fight nature but we can share our comforts with our fellow human beings. Don’t you think that we should do all that is within our reach to help the victims of this tragedy and help nourish their lives? I believe we should!

By Deepti Nair