Outcry for Japan

I feel ashamed when I’m sitting here at ease

My heart cries out for the Japanese

I remember when Tsunami hit India I was in Goa

I can never forget how much I thanked destiny

That I could live to see today

And now that a stronger one hit Japan…

It was the only thing on news that Friday

8.9, gosh, it was scary

And the helicopter shots looked so lethal

As if I was watching a video game

Lame, but the speed of water and the heat of fire

Had the same air of unreality to them

The ships, planes and cars photographed from above

I swear looked like a floor littered with a careless child’s toys

I don’t want to believe it was anything but that

Developed over the years and shattered in a 2 minute disaster

I don’t know why im getting all patriotic about a country that’s not my own

Maybe coz I understand the suffering as I nearly avoided?

Still something surprises me, more than anything else

The people were prepared

The government action was instantaneous

Evacuation successful, well as successful as you could hope for

This didn’t happen in India

Mitigation was only dealing with the aftermath

Very little, what was left

Warnings, none

Even in the harsh time, I plead the Indians to learn from our fellow Asians

We here think regular drills are a joke

Are we so naïve as not to understand their importance until disaster strikes?

Why bother when everything’s alright?

Jab hoga tab dekha jayega attitude

Jab hoga tab dekhne ke liye zinda bachoge?

They just don’t realize

Learn from the Japanese, my fellow Indians

I sincerely hope for the best for the victims and revival of Tokyo and all other places hit by the aftershocks.

Ameen