About twenty wildfires, have been burning since Oct 21, 2007, all along the beautiful Southern California coast, from Santa Barbara to San Diego (and even parts of Baja California, Mexico). With so many homes destroyed and quite a few people dead/injured, Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya prays for the fortitude and the strength for the families of the victims and the brave fire-fighters. A few of my friends and acquaintances had to evacuate their homes; and now, thankfully, things are fine with them. Ironically, natural disasters, often, brings out the best in the people. They show such amazing sense of camaraderie, and concern for fellow human beings and life.
Southern California (SoCal), is a nature-lover's paradise, with its beautiful, pristine, beaches; chapparal based mountains; plain valleys; and the desert vegetation found in Mojave and other places. And, in parts, it is beautifully green too. Surprisingly, this region often records the lowest amount of rainfall, much lower than the national average. This year, the rainfall received has been lower than the driest Death Valley regions of the US. The author wouldn't hesitate to say that SoCal, is a true geographical wonder. The lack of rainfall, dry vegetation and the strong Santa Ana winds, provided, the more than necessary fuel, for these wildfires.
The air is unclean. Lots of small and coarse particulates in the air, that is not good for the lungs. The distinct smoke on the horizon over the usually, beautiful, scenic landscapes. The smell of something is burning. Overall, an atmosphere of gloom and disaster. Around 900,000 evacuations (the largest in peacetime history in the US), huge loss in property, 1500+ homes destroyed, official reports of ten dead and around hundred injured (mostly, those, brave, fire-fighters), overall acreage of burning close to 300,000 acres, four days of continuous burning and spreading due to the winds; this would be in the who's-who list of natural disasters.
*****
The author has been at Madras, Tamil Nadu during the Tsunami disaster of 2004; College Station, TX during the hurricanes Rita and Katrina; Pilani, Rajasthan which experienced mild tremors during the disastrous Gujarat earthquake; and now, the Wildfire 2007 of SoCal. During these times, one is often made to rethink on how insignificant we are, and how, no one can truly stop nature's hath and fury. With so much of a damage to life and property, hell breaks over, and people are always on their toes, wondering as to what would happen next. These are definitely bad times, and no one, really wants disasters.
All these, make the author to wonder, "There is no way of stopping natural disasters. But, then, why not stop all the disasters in the name of war and peace. Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, in the modern times, Japan when it was nuked in 1945, etc. must have been subjected to great misery and hell, because of the severe damage to life (infact, the Japanese episode has affected future generations forever) and property (does one count the number of houses shelled and the number of evacuees)." But then, if one were to delve deep into the history of nations, the world has always been in a state of chaos and war. World peace is nothing, but, utopia. This would definitely respect a new post, and the author would like the to end this post, thus,
Life, is the same, everywhere, no matter where.
3 comments:
aye,it's not fair i don't get to see the pristine beaches.
suddenly,the world seems to be full of people who are continent hopping and who are eyed beadily by an extremely envious me.
well, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. India, too, is well endowed with its own fair share of natural beauty. One doesn't need to continent hop.
For starters, Alleppey, and the beautiful beautiful beaches of the Western coast.
yes,but i have been there and i want to travel elsewhere!
petulant.extremely.
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