It will be a month in a few days since Japan experienced a massive earthquake. The 23-foot tsunami (it is a Japanese word) triggered by the earthquake shattered Japan's coast and engulfed homes, cars, boats and THOUSANDS OF LIVES. I was heartbroken by the images and videos in the media. In spite of this tragedy, on close monitoring of the situation I found Japan people to be very unique. No wonder why Japan is called the land of the rising sun. The world grieved for what happened in Japan - "hope, hope, hope, and infinite hope" is what I found in Japanese people on how they faced the disaster.
I still remember December 26, 2004 (Black Day in the history of India) and the memories still bring out tears. I particularly witnessed the tsunami torn areas. Me and my dad drove through one of the tsunami struck shoreline minutes before the tsunami hit the shore. I remember seeing the sea waters bubbling. It was a close death call but me and my dad were fortunate to survive that black day. I remember women and men crying and running and beating their chest. There was chaos everywhere. It was in contrary in the case of Japan. I could see people staying extremely calm and there was absolutely no chaos. Everyone behaved normal as though they weren't hit by a natural disaster. I wonder how they remained so calm where everybody else would be panic stricken. Their faces reflected the grief but not fear - strong minds and I bow down.
The Japanese people never stopped surprising me after the natural disaster also. I could find them standing in queues in superstores to buy groceries and daily supplies like water and fuel to name a few. I also saw a picture in which people were patiently waiting for banking services in a temporary makeshift arrangement. I could find no pushing or fighting among the crowd. Everyone were patiently waiting for their turn. It showed how well the Japanese people understood the situation and behaved accordingly. This was very much surprising - they looked so much organized. I could find them patiently waiting for trains or other transport modes. People behaved as if nothing happened (comparing the magnitude of the damage caused) but obviously we could see their grief struck faces.
I have seen movies on World War II where Japanese soldiers came attacking with bayonets against the Allied Forces equipped with 50 caliber machine guns and Thompson machine guns. They were so brave and would sacrifice their lives for the country. I am not going to key in more on this as America and Japan have a very bitter past. Thanks to the U.S. Marines who extended invaluable helping hands during this disaster. Now let me talk about the real heroes - about more than 50 people including workers, medical staff and scientists who battled to save the Fukushima nuclear plant and their fellow citizens. The radioactivity level was 10 million times higher than the usual level and still these brave men fought bravely and pumped water in and out and brought the situation (ticking time bomb) under control. They have made great sacrifices which will be remembered through generations. The Japanese people are greatly indebted to these heroes.
I viewed many videos in YouTube and I found ships hitting bridges and ships breaking into pieces. Many people were taking amateur reality videos from their homes of the tsunami and the earthquake. Did those people believe that Japanese construction can withstand anything? Lovecriminal can't answer. Many houses were washed away but some (may be a few) of the big structures cracked, partially collapsed and stood still. The bridges and roads showed massive cracks. With an earthquake of such an high magnitude some of these partially collapsed buildings stood as evidences for the reliability and strength of Japanese architecture.
I stood up with the entire world during the Japanese earthquake through my prayers. I never thought of writing this blog post until a good friend of mine Shabi Jordan wanted me to write a post on it. I told her that this earthquake has got a lot of coverage and all I could do is pray for the victims. I went through photos and videos of the disaster and the above thoughts on the earthquake struck my mind. In spite of the great damage caused by this natural disaster - the Japan Earthquake talks back strongly to the world .
