A Sunshine Too Brief

Wednesday

Sympathy

Everyone everywhere have obviously heard/read/witnessed the Earthquake in Pakistan and India by now so I'll leave further reporting to the experts.
The blissfully unaffected of us can only send our sympathies and appeal to everyone around the world for donations and hope for its fair dispensing among the displaced and needy.
Tears are useless.
So I can only do the next best thing- get mad.
Mad at the "Tsunami/Katrina/Bird flu/Earthquake is an example of the wrath of God. We are paying for our sins" comments that everyone keeps mouthing around me. Is there anything more insulting to the dead and the survivors of a natural calamity?
I mean, why say THAT of all things?!
Why?
Would you tell a child who lost his arm in a car accident that 'he is paying for the fact that his dad scammed the government'?
Huh huh?

Yes this has been a bad year from the start.
But why must every natural calamity or epidemic be some form of ' sign from God' or a sign of the 'end of the world' ?
The reasons behind a earthquake or a hurricane or a flu pandemic are very scientific and predictable only proving the effective creation of God (if you like). He created a system that runs on its own. People must still have a 'throwing thunderbolts from the clouds' image of God if they think He is making everything bad happen.
You'll have to be stupid not to realize that your God might have created the 'greatest' being in the universe but not necessarily the 'physically strongest' one.
Yes, they are somewhat intelligent but probably not much if some of them could be fighting over a piece of land for about 60 years only to have everything constructed on it destroyed by that same land shaking itself out.
Thats what struck me about what happened in Kashmir.
Few people of any region in the world could be more misfortunate than the people of Kashmir right now , be it the Pakistani one or the Indian one.
Oh I can't even begin to write up the idiotic reasons behind the India-Pakistan war over the 'Paradise on earth that used to be Kashmir' ..("We can't give up Kashmir, our map will look like its lost its crown", said one Indian I spoke to once) ...or Kashmir's own war of independence which just keeps getting subdued!...go look it up yourself...I'm going to have a lie down.
Good night.

3 Comments:

At 11:50 a.m., October 13, 2005, F.S.Kabir said...: you already know how i feel about this. I AM mad too, but it physically hurts to see the images on tv, read about them. and yet, i KNOW i mustnt let myself get dragged back into depression, but its so damn hard when you read about these things...and this year...bah, i'll be happy when this year ends.
At 10:48 a.m., October 15, 2005, Shirin said...: Yes it’s very sad what happened in Kashmir. Well it’s unbelievable really. I think the reason people say ‘we are paying for our sins’ is that by saying that, they feel just a little bit safer thinking that just maybe by being good they can stop all this bad fortune. For most people even the thought of our world being so fragile and god having no power over it is absolutely terrifying.
At 2:37 p.m., October 19, 2005, CalVEiN said...: may their souls rest in peace is all we can say now and see what financial help can be done !

as for the trouble in kashmir, it is only an effort to protect the indian borders from foreign occupation. there isnt a question of giving up kashmir , coz if u give them kashmir today they will end up asking punjab tommorrow ! u must remember that pakistan was once a part of this land too ! i will not say we gave them that land but circumstances led to the formation of the two states !

people of kashmir are so tired of living in fear between the indian army and the extremists that they want their own independence and now they hav to live in the fear of earth quakes. really gruesome plight.