Water.
Can’t live without it. Thought of affectionately as man’s best friend by many.
And ironically, friend turns foe and slams its massive volume onto our comparatively frail bodies. No longer is it mere water, for in this new, formidable guise, it is branded Tsunami.
But what its done to us from the outside is a separate story to what its done to us from the inside. That tale is yet to be told, yet to be fully understood, even though we may have all the data and facts required to present to the coming generations about the hows and whys.
Suffering teaches. It is one of the cardinal tenets of many religions and spiritual schools of thought. But some cant make sense of it, so they lose their faith in God who no longer protects. Others are lucky to survive and thus, believe evermore in the same God who, ostensibly, did protect.
Who would have thought that a 40 foot wave would question one’s faith?
That’s precisely the point. One never thinks. One never knows. One never preempts what will come from around the corner – friend or foe? One cant decide from before, one cant guess, one cant gamble.
But we can be prepared. That’s the one thing we can do. Walk to that corner, equipped with the knowledge that true faith can never be drowned or bludgeoned; armed with the conviction in a higher purpose – one that may escape us for the present moment. The earth may shake even so, but perhaps, we may still stand our ground.
The Tsunami is a personal tragedy for each of us. We all must have felt its impact differently, reacted differently, learnt from it differently. Lessons are not always revealed face to face. Much has been sacrificed and immense suffering has come out of it and thus, it becomes imperative that what we may have perceived from this individually, remains with us — to teach, to inform, to remember.
