The prayer on the lips of every devout Indian is to be spared apamrityu or unnatural death; it is a prayer for dignity both in life and in death. When men die fighting for the country or for a noble cause their act of supreme sacrifice brings them veeraswarga and eternal fame. Bacon assures us that "it is as natural to die, as to be born; and to a little infant, perhaps, the one is as painful as the other." But we recoil in horror at the violent death of our kith and kin in the prime of their life; we grieve over the fate of the men and women, whose 'worthy ends and expectations' are far from fulfilled. Thus Mother India weeps today for the thousands of her sons and daughters snatched away by the devastating earthquake of January 26, 2001.
Our countrymen have rallied to the side of their grief-stricken brethren in their hour of trial: relief is pouring in from far and near. UN and other world bodies have also swung into action to help us out. Discordant notes, though muted, have also been struck: there is talk about the visitation being a punishment for sectarian wrongdoing. The present is hardly the hour for settling political scores.
The ordeal still continues, as aftershocks are being felt by the day in the quake-hit areas of Gujarat. There were tremors on Saturday (February 3) in the Bachau region. Ever since the quake hit western India on Republic Day our preparedness for facing calamities of this kind has come under critical scrutiny. Experts aver that while earthquakes cannot be predicted we can prepare ourselves to face them if and when they strike. Hopefully, building codes will be amended to ensure that quake-resistant structures are in place. The experience of countries like Japan in building houses in earthquake-prone areas will prove useful in drawing up disaster management plans.
Our knowledge of earthquakes has grown over the years and the regions prone to seismic disturbances have also been known. The Bhuj quake, it appears, was a thousand times more powerful than the quake that struck Latur in Maharashtra in 1993. The Latur tremor had a magnitude of 6.3 on the Richter scale, while the January 26 quake measured 8.1 (and not 6.9 or 7.9 as stated earlier). The Bhuj quake, matching in intensity the Mexico earthquake of September 19, 1985, was the first quake of such severity in these parts in 189 years.
One shudders to think what would have happened (perish the thought!) if the epicentre of the quake had been in Ahmedabad: the lives of two million people would have been at stake. The calamity that has struck Gujarat is great. The sorrow and suffering are too harrowing for words. Who knows for certain how it came about? Let us not hazard guesses 'darkening counsel by words without knowledge.'
Let us stop being Job's comforters and remember Imlac's advice to Rasselas: "Be not too hasty to trust or to admire teachers of morality: they discourse like angels and live like men." Also recall what the sorrowing philosopher told the Prince: "What comfort can truth and reason afford me? Of what effect are they now, but to tell me that my daughter will not be restored?"
Every cloud has a silver lining: this crisis has reinforced our unity. It has also brought about a thaw in our relations with Pakistan. It is for the Prime Minister to press forward with goodwill and confidence.
