Friday, September 02, 2005

New Orleans, Mumbai and the Tsunami



A view of Canal Street that is flooded with water in New Orleans (From Reuters)

All of you must have heard of Katrina and the tragedy it brought along with it. What is very concerning is the tragedy that humans have caused themselves in New Orleans. People have turned violent. Imagine surviving Katrina and then the rage/anger of your fellow people who turn violent and start looting. Lets hope people get help and the aid they need to survive this disaster.

Looking back, Nature has shown us its might this year. We had a Tsunami on the boxing day, killing more than a million people and affecting the lives of many more. Sometime back we in India were impacted by the Mumbai tragedy (the tragedy was really caused due to excessive human intervention with nature). The last two tragedies were different in the sense that people (from all over) helped each other during and after the tragedy.





Mumbai Rains (From Webshots Album -- Mumbai Rain)

New Orleans makes me wonder

  1. If we ever face a similar crisis on a global scale, will we all forget what humanity is about and start doing whatever it takes for survival? Will nations go to war? Are we humanitarian only if our basic needs are satisfied?
  2. Should ordinary people be carrying weapons? (I can understand their use for self protection, but as in New Orleans, if people decide to loot, then one has to rethink this point)
  3. There are so many people who need help/are going to need help in the future and we as humans must be ready to help them out. We should override all other things we do and prioritize providing help to people who need it. Nations should revisit their priorities - should it be war, helping the millions of people starving in Africa/Asia, helping people hurt by Natural disaster. Its our call to make.
  4. Its time we start respecting nature for what it provides and what it can take away. We must remember not to struggle with nature or make a competition of extracting resources/energy from it, but to live in harmony with it.

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