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People and society by
Hari
Posted on Sun, Sep 4, 2005 at 10:24 IST (last updated: Wed, Jul 16, 2008 @ 21:18 IST)
I read about Hurricane Katrina. Everywhere you see messages of "heartfelt" sympathy and condolences. This has made me seriously think about this subject in a honest way.
And so I want to be brutally frank and honest here. How many of us can say that any sympathy that we express is "heartfelt" in the true sense of the word? I guess not many. It is one thing to make the right noises about it, but totally another to do so in a heartfelt way.
It is not because most of us are heartless or cruel. It is just that whenever a disaster of such epic proportions takes place in any part of the world, the very magnitude of it not only overwhelms our imagination but is also, at many levels, incomprehensible. In other words, those images of destruction and devastation actually numb our senses. Quite simply, most people who live in other parts of the world (or even the same part of the world and who were not affected personally) simply wouldn't understand what this disaster is all about by looking at two dimensional still images or even at television visuals.
The Asian tsunami was a very good example of this. The scale of devastation was mind-numbing and even a person living in affected countries could not quite understand the impact of this single event of nature. Even those of us who are close to the tradegy and the place of devastation. Yet, they are called upon to express not only sympathy and condolences, but also offer aid and assistance materially. I think that the only way one can understand such a disaster is to experience it first hand or be personally affected by it. Otherwise, although help and sympathy will be forthcoming, none of this will be "heartfelt" in the true sense of the word.
Let me just say that on a personal level, I simply don't understand this Hurricane's impact. Quite simply, it is amazing how a single storm of nature could wreak such havoc. The unbelievable high wind speeds, the enormity of the flooding, the large scale destruction of property, the loss of human life and livelihood... everything appears to be so big! The human mind simply cannot process all this information and so we remain merely curious and interested. However much you might protest against this, let me tell you that this is true of 99% of us. It is only the pressure to sound right in public makes us sympathize and make the right noises. Indeed, it is rare to find people who are truly heartfelt in their empathy and material assistance. It takes a very special human being to have whole-hearted empathy and understanding towards fellow human beings. That's why you don't get a Mahatma Gandhi or an Abraham Lincoln in every generation.
Joseph Stalin once said that the death of one human being is a tragedy, but the death of millions is a statistic. However unpopular the dictator might have been, there seems to be some scientific truth to this as far as the way our minds are tuned to receiving and comprehending information. Anything that overwhelms our intellect or emotion is simply rejected. That's the bare truth. In many ways, it's nothing but an involuntary defence mechanism that prevents most of us from breaking down emotionally or mentally. On the other hand, we do experience extreme emotions in the case of personal tragedies and experiences simply because we can relate to it and probably handle its impact over time. As simple as that.
One thing is certain though. Before the ultimate fury of nature, human beings continue to remain hapless children in every sense of the word. Simply acknowledging this fact could be the greatest tribute we pay to nature and the best way to develop a healthy empathy towards the victims of such disasters.
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