Four years since that tsunami
December 26, 2008 § 17 Comments
It was on a boxing day,four years back,that a series of waves,killed many thousands and forever changed the way,we look at the sea.I still remember watching the pictures of cars floating and the world in half a hell.From Indonesia to Kenya,the waves spread,unleashing natures fury.
Picture from here. The above picture won the world press photo award for 2004.
Such cataclysmic events,just prove that we are part of nature too.Since then a lot of reconstruction and rehabilitation work has been done,to help the countries and people affected by it.While 9/11 and the war which followed showed the folly of fanatism of a kind and the retaliation of another,this showed us that,it would take nature hardly a second,to wipe out everything.
Yesterday,I was at Kovallam,on the shore,playing football.Seeing the red flag warning people not to venture into the sea and the turbulent waves,made me think,what if i had been at the same spot four years ago?There would have been no flag warnings,as no one k new about.I put away such this eerie thought,lest my holiday mood,gets damp so horrendously.
I had written a poem,after the disaster ,i was in my eighth grade then,
A rise in tide on a fullmoon day,
As people wake on a Sunday.
Playing in the sands are kids,
Rising up are the tides.
Two five hundred plus six hundred miles away,
Started the tsunamis on their way.
As many a thousand died,
Pooling villages and quenching lives,
Are the tsunamis on this day.
In Lanka more than 30,
In India around 13,
In Thailand around 80,
In Indonesia more than 40
are the lives
taken by the waves.
National and International funds are rising
As the toll is rising.
Many on a dream holiday,
Face sorrow on a boxing day.
If the disaster was on land,well
There won’t be many left as now,
So lets say,
‘Strange are the ways of God’.
I haven’t changed anything,not even the facts,on the exact death.Of course I was tempted to change a few things,but this what exactly I felt at that moment.All those who watch a disaster on T.V. can say is how things could have been worse.Not that I want some disaster to befall me,I am happy the way I am.Let us hope Earth is a better place.
the light shines the brightest 
When we think we have a good grasp of nature, nature stuns us yet again.
Destination Infinity
nice that you remembered..I was thinking abt it only….all the memories came bakk.
and over tat today its 1 month after the mumbai incident….
sad but happy also tat we’ve come over it
We are so arrogant of our achievements and so full of hatred for each other that we forget there is something far bigger than all of us…something whose just one twitch can cause millions of us to lose our lives.
😦
A wonderful post from your end after a very long time. Thanks for sharing the pic, I hadnt seen it before. I still remember that day, I was staying in Mylapore at that time and gawd, the panic in everyones face, it just cannot be described.
Thats a wonderful poem considering the fact that you had written it in your eighth grade.
None can fight the fury of nature. It was devastating. Unlike man-made disasters, natural disasters leave us completely broken. We can’t even hit back at it.
‘Strange are the ways of God’ — Yes, his ways are always strange and unpredictable!
I was remembering it on and off y’day.Can’t ever forget that morning when I woke up to the earthquake which preceded it.
That pic is such a horrid reminder of the devastating play of nature.May the victims and their bereaved find peace.
Such a thoughtful post. Everybody had forgotten it, I thought. Hope your X’mas went great
🙂
Humans think they are the masters of the universe 😡 and cause terrible damage until Nature decides to strike back in the form of tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes etc. 😦
That is a terrible photo 😥
@DI: true
@PJ: 🙂
@Reema: 😀
@manushi: 🙂
@vimal: So you didn’t like my posts for a long time 😉 why so?
@kapil: Neither at terrorism,it too doesn’t have a face 🙂
@Manasa: 🙂
@raj: 🙂 and yes that photo is terrible 😦
@aneesh : 😀
Such a great post, and it reminds us to be well grounded. It’s pathetic that we tend to take our surroundings for granted. Being humble and noble doesn’t cost anything, right? May god be with us and every one that is effected. Have a safe and happy 2009! Great poem considering the time you wrote it 😀
I just hope nthing like that happens again ..
and i just thought – whats the point in publishing a photo like that and winning a award /..
THats absurd ..
MAking life out of these situations is sickening
Great poem Vishesh. Thanks for reminding us of the Tsunami. So quickly we forget about the sufferings of people that take place so far away from us! In the same way people will forget the Mumbai terror attacks and life will go on as usual. Until something else happens.
one of your best poems, more so coz of its size and that i can understand it completely 😛 😛
On a serious note, humans are to take the hints from the mother nature if we want to live peacefully.. its high time! 🙂
No matter how much advanced our technologies get, there is something we can never win over.