It’s been a busy few days. And in those days, there has been a bomb blast, a hurricane and a revelation.

My thoughts are a bit muddled at the moment and the lethargy that I am experiencing after eating a truly delicious lunch is not helping.

My revelation is tied up with the blasts and the hurricane. I know most of you will be like, duh, on this – but it just hit harder when I read about these events more than it ever has. I don’t know whether it was like what was happening was the final straw, but all I know is that in a way I’m either very lucky or very doomed.

My revelation was, as it came to me on fine Saturday afternoon, is that Australia is so isolated. We are literally in the corner of the world, away from most major events and catastrophes. I’ve always had a gripe about how far away everything is, and it makes travelling a huge pain in the ass. But reading and watching these things happen around the world on the news here – it just…well…it almost didn’t seem real.

Even when the supposed End of The World was meant to happen – I honest to God – forgot. When I was watching the news that night, it dawned on me that really – the world COULD end and I, or us Australians would have no clue what the hell is going on.

The Delhi bomb blasts, like the Mumbai ones beforehand showed images of devastation and terror. I was genuinely worried this time around, because not only do I have family there, quite a few of blogging friends are from there. And that’s just one miracle of blogging – it brings us from all around the world together, connecting us through words, emotions and friendship – and it opens our heart to them. So, naturally I was worried.

Hurricane Ike was big news here, more so than the bomb blasts – perhaps due to Australia’s invisible umbilical cord with the United States – and again I watched as people died and lost homes as Mother Nature did her worst. Again, through blogging it hit harder because I KNEW people that were there – right in the path of destruction. And I worried.

The question is, if I didn’t know people who were there – would it make it any less significant?? Even though I wasn’t personally affected, what about the people who were? Should I not feel for them?

I ache when I see people hurt. Even when I do not know them. But I also know that many people don’t feel the same. It’s terrible, so awful, but these things happen; they say and shrug it off. It’s reality.

Roop conveys my thoughts way more succinctly than I ever could.

Mad Momma expresses her confusion between apathy and resilience.

Chandni takes it all in.


Has human nature just hardened itself to accepting this as life?? I can’t even fathom it. People are shocked yet unsurprised. Is that normal?

Taking it straight from my comment on Chandni’s post – being so far away lessens the impact of these situations, but it also makes me worry a whole lot more about the people I know and care about that are there. I go through my every day life as it is, doing the mundane tasks, taking the chance to forget about it all.

I honestly don’t know how to feel – whether I should just accept it as life. One situation is out of anybody’s control, one is something we see time and time again when things get out of hand – but it’s something we can control. I’ve spoken about my outrage at religious and cultural difference being the cause of such turmoil – I don’t understand it.

Agreeing with Roop’s sentiments – it pains me to see the lack of value of human life in India comparatively, and I say that as an outside looking in. Perhaps I’m wrong. Perhaps, helplessness has caused our countrymen to create an outer shell to protect their own emotions as a way of dealing with it. We all have different coping mechanisms right??

But honestly, it would be the one thing that I wouldn’t mind being proven wrong in.

This hasn’t been a very good post. It’s jumbled and random. I want to express my horror and grief over both events but like Chandni said – I’m shocked yet unable to do anything but live life as it is. I’m suddenly glad to be far far away from it all, lucky to have the luxury of NOT caring so much. But I choose to care because it’s keeping me human. As long as I can feel – I can survive. In a world that is rapidly becoming smaller, these incidents are hitting closer to home and harder. While the distance has provided me with a bubble that keeps me ‘safe’, the knowledge that bubble can be broken within moments keeps me thinking.

To all those who were affected, to the families who lost homes, lost loved ones, lost livelihoods. To all those who kept strong for those in need, who gave more than what they could ever afford, for those who never lost faith. To those who are as shocked as I am, who are just going through life like me – I KNOW that underneath that seemingly apathetic mask is the emotions we have tried to keep hidden. Grief, remorse, terror, relief – it’s all there.

It’s just out of sight.

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