On March 11, a massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit the Pacific Ocean nearby Northeastern Japan causing extensive and unimaginable damage with blackouts, fire and tsunami. The word tsunami comes from the Japanese language and means harbor wave. It has been almost a week now and I must admit I have not been able to bring myself to watch the video footage, look at the photos or read the news articles associated with the destruction in Japan. So every morning, I scan the news headlines hoping that there will be some positive news coming out of Japan but all I have been reading has been about the radiation crisis, bodies found, millions without food and water, homes destroyed....and then I don't have the courage to read the entire news article which is the reality that the people of Japan are going through. And then yesterday, I read what to me was the first positive sign coming from Japan....On March 14, four days after the disaster struck Japan, soldiers from the Japanese defense force were going door to door, pulling bodies from homes, when amidst the silent corpses, a baby cried out....and as the news article stated 'Japan met its tiniest miracle'. Under a pile of debris, amidst fragments of wood, slate, shattered glass and rock was a four month old baby girl in a pink woolen bear suit. The tidal wave had swept the baby away from her parents' arms when it hit their home on March 11. Her parents both of whom survived the disaster thought that their little girl was dead and were overjoyed to be reunited with her. The story left me with a lump in my throat and I was just so happy for the parents.
My own experience with the Japanese was when I worked with my previous company. We had branch offices in many parts of the world including one in Japan. Every month we needed the financials from these branch offices in order to consolidate them at the main office level. The branch office in Japan never missed a deadline, were always very polite in every communication (verbal or written) and the financials they sent were 100% accurate....never any mistakes...and with my association with them, I learnt to respect them. So I have no doubts that they will bounce back quickly from this crisis. Today, sitting in the comfort of my home, there are two things I can do for Japan...I can assist monetarily with donations and I can pray for them. I truly believe in the power of prayer. It has helped me tide over many situations, big and small, in my own life. So, I pray that things get better in Japan....I pray that the people there get the strength to deal with the situation and I pray that nature does not unleash her fury anymore on any of my fellow humans anywhere in this world.
Signing off with an earnest prayer for the people of Japan and this line from the historic speech today by Japan's emperor Akihito
'I truly hope the victims of the disaster never give up hope, take care of themselves and live strong for tomorrow'.
No comments:
Post a Comment