SikhSpectrum.com Quarterly Issue No.22, November 2005
Global Interdependence - The Ultimate Seva
K.P. Singh
This week the world is reminded of a natural disaster the like of which the world had not witnessed in our life times. Our thoughts and prayers are with the surviving families of victims, national and spiritual leaders and especially those engaged in rebuilding hope and healing, and
with all who have brought these unimagined events and concerns before the world and into our living rooms as we go about our personal pursuits, celebrations, and challenges. From such distances, we can hardly understand the full scope and magnitude of the 2004 Asian Tsunami disaster or the task ahead to bring back semblance of normalcy for the survivors and those who
witnessed this tragedy up-close and in person. We salute the courage, emotional strength, resourcefulness, and professional commitment of those who continue to draw the world's attention to this extraordinary story and event in human history.
Our prayers are with the people and nations that were devastated by the 2004 Tsunami and are observing the first solemn Anniversary of a cataclysmic event. The images are etched in our memory and the victims must know the world has not forgotten. We join others, here and everywhere, with our prayers and hopes for a better tomorrow and especially for those engaged in valiant effort at recovering from their deep scars and unimagined anguish. By sharing our thoughts and prayers with victims and their families, others, and cyber audience, we
hope that we provide some comfort and may inspire greater involvement in ideas and endeavors that concern us all as a human family and as a civilization.
The fact that times and technology has made it possible to connect with humanity's extended family in faraway places and distant cultures is in itself a miracle of our times. The resilience and courage of those who are struggling to move forward against incredible odds is a story of our times. The story of unimagined generosity from around the world is a symbol of "Faith at Work in Service of Others." Whether one believes in God or not, but surely the noblest instincts of humanity as revealed in sacred scripture of all faiths are at work before our eyes. What a wonderful testimony and triumph of the human spirit!
It is marvelous to witness this continuing "circle of love" and help expand; witness interdependence as the ultimate "SEVA" and concern without frontiers; cooperation among culture faith community with the traditional divides and indifferences; and governments often caught in prides and despairing discords to come together and fully engage in rebuild human trust and provide hope and shelter to the countless millions, across countries and continents rimming the Indian ocean, that many we were meeting for the first time and whose lives were turned upside down on the fateful morning of December 26, 2004 by the massive waves of the earthquake-triggered Tsunami. May such cooperation continue to be the true legacy of our times.
With prayers and hopes for a new dawn for those who were caught in the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami and all other natural disasters of recent months.
2004 ASIAN TSUNAMI
The images and unleashed rage of Asian Tsunami
Still send shivers through the spine.
The unimagined devastation tugs our heart,
Loss of life numbs the mind, leaves us speechless.
Many places on the Earth were still in darkness
The world was unaware of the raging onslaught:
The swelled ocean triggered giant tidal waves
Hurtled them across seas and straits, coastlines, settlements
With speed and roar of a jet plane, awesome fury,
Waves knocked everything in their path,
Swallowed up entire islands, fishing villages, shorelines.
Not much survived where the waves struck,
Came ashore, made their violent journey deep inland,
Nor upon the return of monstrous waves back to the sea.
Survivors witnessed in stunned shock, frantic desperation,
In disbelief as they saw the cataclysmic aftermath.
The awesome power of Nature was sight to behold.
Was it the wrath of gods unfolding before our eyes?
The earthquake-triggered Tsunami roared across
From its epicenter in Indonesia past Thailand, India, Sri Lanka,
Westward, to East Africa, an ocean stretch of nearly 5,000 miles.
The houses crumbled, cars, trucks, and large boats
Crushed; trains pushed over; man and material dragged,
Mangled, and scattered across the ravaged landscapes
Scenes of utter devastation hard to imagine possible;
There was rumbling and tumbling, breaking and shaking
Loud screams drowned in deafening noise of powerful Tsunami.
Panic-stricken people swept away helplessly into the deep,
Caught in murky whirlpools of death and destruction;
The force of the invading waves hard to fathom;
Traveling unchecked, marauding coastal towns, fishing villages,
Resorts, as if someone had opened the floodgates of hell,
Let loose the ocean to submerge the earth,
Cause havoc all across the path of merciless Tsunami.
Massive earthquake-Tsunami was Nature displaying
Raw power; unimagined and unseen for generations;
The shattering wake-up call encircled the globe.
Captured in eyewitness and haunting visual images,
Memories, living nightmare that agonize our soul;
Thoughts on future catastrophes before they happen,
Catch us by surprise; devastate our fragile tranquility,
Cause horrendous losses, shattering of lives, heritage,
Natural elements and flourishing human habitat,
Crowd our mind and spirit in repeated aftershocks.
Tsunami laid bare large swaths of land,
Stripped of life, infrastructure, vegetation and soil.
There, now stood heartbreaks, single lonely structures
As the silent reminders of once bustling communities;
Landscape littered with mountain-high debris,
Air filled with sounds of suffering and deep anguish,
Stench of deaths in thousands, agony of despair all around;
Burials and cremations of dead, often by strangers,
Without a final goodbye by those whom they belonged in life;
Unbearable and frantic struggle to save lives; find strength
To carry on after what the victims have been through.
It was not all dark amidst this midnight of sadness.
Noblest human concern, generosity flowed from near and far
To reinforce hope and healing, bring comfort,
Rebuild the shattered world and dreams of survivors.
Unexpected “angels” had descended to lend a hand,
Ease the sorrow and suffering of people, nations
That bore the merciless brunt of the Tsunami.
Millions rushed forward in friendship, solidarity
In prayerful sorrow to share pain in the extended family
In communities, cultures they knew not before the tragedy.
At-work, a powerful spirit, deepest understanding
Across traditional divides and indifferences,
Threading all living beings, for one brief moment,
Into a common humanity, shared cultural tapestry,
Reminding each of our responsibility to other; praying that
The life-sustaining gifts of our shared destiny: hope, promise
Music, song, life, laughter needs to return at ‘daybreak.’
