And for a Friday in Trivandrum with two unprecedented events; calamity in Wayanad and the upheaval in Bangladesh, some thoughts….. some musings…..
Having travelled extensively in Bangladesh and knowing many friends and colleagues during my German MNC days as head of South Asia, I feel for the people of Bangladesh. Bengalis are like Malayalees; very political, argumentative and highly literate. But very loving, caring, emotional and like all of us in South Asian countries. A large part of the population is poor and struggling to come out of poverty. I hope and pray that all kinds of unrest stops and democracy is restored and Bangladesh is back into a stable country improving its economy and very close cultural, economic and financial bonding with India. I pray for a speedy resolution to all the problems facing the Bangladeshis with continued close symbiotic relationships with India.
Wayanad was a tragedy of humongous proportions. When Nature erupts, no human system can cope or prevent. We need to quickly deal with the aftermath and heal all those who are completely devastated by the tragedy. It is situations like these that you see the strength of Indian secular society. As many lives as was humanly possible were saved. Most unfortunate and deeply saddened to see so many unidentified body parts and decomposed bodies painstakingly retrieved by the Army, Police, fire fighters and volunteers. A mass cremation with religious leaders from all communities standing shoulder to shoulder and grieving for the departed and everybody doing everything possible to lessen the inconsolable grief and suffering of the survivors. May God help us all.
These are tough times. But let us all toughen ourselves to brave this, the empathy way, the caring way, the SEEGOS way.