When nature wreaks havoc

I am sure the title has given you quite an idea about what this post is going to be about. Then again I'd like to just clear out that it is not going to be a technical detailing of the crisis. And definitely not an up to date report regarding the calamity. There are numerous TV channels and newspapers doing just that. Besides I am in no way as capable as either the news crews nor the rescue forces to be even remotely taking off on my own. But Oh...How I wish I could do that this very minute!

Picture credits: newsflashrajasthan.com

Okay...I hope you are not rolling your eyes at the screen already, thinking 'don't these silly people have anything better to do rather than write irrelevant things and that too in such grim situations?' Even if you are I'd like to say that a lot has been written, debated and criticized about the events- right from the negligence of authorities that caused the disaster to the "disaster tourism" carried out by our dear netas. Even as scores of pilgrims and locals are still stuck in inaccessible areas and the rescue teams comprising the Armed forces, the ITBP (Indo-Tibetan Border Police), the NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) are fighting it out against the rogue weather, the newspapers and all other forms of media can't get enough of headlines screaming 'CONTROVERSY'.

Picture credits: http://www.firstpost.com

 I never give such reports a second glance but this one particular piece of news in The Hindu Vijayawada edition caught my eye. It recounted the hardships faced by a pilgrim from Andhra while he was stuck in Kedarnath. He explained how there wasn't much to eat and little information being given out to them. He then went on to say that not much was being done for the telugus. Now I don't know why but I found this part weird.

 It also brought me to think about Narendra Modi's visit and subsequent evacuation of the gujrati tourists through the arrangement of special transport means from Dehradun to Ahmedabad.

 States chipping in to help with the rescue operations is a very good thing, especially when uttarakhand is not in a position to do it all alone. But once they commit to help the hapless and stranded does it make any sense to discriminate the victims on the basis of state or region? If every state starts organizing special rescue operations for their respective citizens, what then shall become of the locals or the ones who went to the region specifically for career prospects? Which state will sponsor them? 

Luckily for us the Army, independent of such glitches will successfully help as many people as they can, owing to the unpredictable weather.

Sitting in the safe confines of my home in a place far away from the scene of the disaster, I don't really think I should be passing out comments on the rescue activities or how the responsible ministers very conveniently overlooked the sensitive terrain of the place in the face of ever expanding industrialization. But I can't help it when I see or hear the varied responses of sizable chunk of the population that exclaims 'Ohh!' 'How sad!' or 'tch tch tch...' , 'God has been so ruthless' , 'These ministers are good for nothing' and similar others. They are downright annoying. Its funny how we think we can empathize with the victims without actually ever having been in such a situation before. 

Praying for the safe return of the survivors.

What to do? Life after College

My very first blog post and I can't help feeling a mix of excitement and nerves. There are far too many thoughts fighting for a chance to be described and displayed. Not that I blame them, they are all very dear. And if I were to plot those many thoughts on a paper, the resulting pattern would put any modern artist to shame.

So getting down to the most recent one- College comes to an end,  Officially! I am now an engineer. Sounds so great. Not. Funny thing about graduation is that I feel no different than how I felt exactly four years ago. Sure I got to learn a lot, academically and otherwise. More of it outside the class than inside. But I'm still searching for the "I-am-all-set-to-conquer-the-world" or "The-world-is-my-playground" sort of an outlook. Oh I did manage to bag a job during the campus placement drives by the various companies visiting my college. So I do have something to look forward to. The only problem being that they wouldn't be giving us a joining date any time soon, leaving ample time on my hands to practically go into hibernation. 

Pretty much how I plan to hang around :P

Well it seems the best thing to do now is to plan out my hibernation period so that I come out of it feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world. And this is how the list goes:

1. Sleep definitely dominates the list. Getting up blissfully late to an awesome weather. An overcast sky, light breeze, with birds chirping, scurrying for cover lest it starts raining. 

2. Poetry Time to rhyme! Taking right after the weather comes up my new found love- Poetry. I'm not a pro or anything but writing down a verse that successfully rhymes or at least makes sense instantly uplifts my otherwise surly mood. 

3. Reading Nothing beats the smell of a brand new book. The ecstasy of burying into one and not looking up till it is finished.

4. Movies, movies and more movies follow next. For someone like me who watches a movie once in a month or even less than that, there is so much to catch up on.

5. Shopping Now some things don't need any reason. I need to shop no matter the season or situation. I am a firm believer in the many benefits of retail therapy.

6. Dear Diary How can I ever forget my dear partner, sticking with me through times good, bad and ugly. So    curling up with my diary is a must.

7. Music This one doesn't really need mentioning in the list. I mean music is the one thing that is ever present, and constantly changing with my varying moods and feelings.

And right now the one song that I plan to play on repeat mode is 'Roobaroo' from Rang De Basanti. Truly inspiring! Also keeping in mind the lovely weather, a horde of Bollywood songs on rain and monsoon are at the top of my playlist.

8. Movement Some amount of moving around is essential too. Nothing too intense of course. So morning walks or a good jog coupled with crazy dancing to latest numbers is a decent way to go.

What more is there to add? Thinking, thinking...oh yes and a lot of thinking about anything and everything under the sun.

Till I come up with my next post.