Lessons for a father - Of losses and unimaginable strength

It is not usually the case that India stands united (on any topic other than Cricket and an often struggling state of peace with one of its neighbors). When it happens, if it happens at all, it makes the front page of world news. The last few weeks have been no different.

Courtesy: DNA India

The northern state of Uttarakhand, in India, is frequented by people of the country for reasons of faith. The state has the privilege of having, within its boundaries, some of the oldest and most auspicious temples and temple-towns of India. For reasons, mostly natural and some man-made, floods washed away entire towns some days ago. A natural calamity in India has the capacity of becoming massively exaggerated due to an ever increasing population and lack of infrastructure development at a steady rate. That is what happened. It is now being dubbed "Himalayan Tsunami" and by the time it becomes old news, hundreds of names, driven by faith, would get added to the "dearly departed" list.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times

While lives were being lost and the political bickering made headlines, one of the few true and working Indian institutions took over the relief and rescue work. The Indian Military (thankfully!) was called in and the state of the tragedy is now mostly under control and getting better, for the people, because of Indian Army, Indian Air Force, Indian Navy, the Indo-Tibetan Border Patrol Force (ITBP), National Disaster Recovery Force (NDRF) and a host of private organizations and NGOs.

Courtesy: India Today

Instances of leadership are on display on a daily basis in the rescue areas and relief camps. What is also on display, outside the state and national political establishment, is a group of highly trained, motivated and duty-bound personnel answering their call of duty. They are proving to us how difficult it can be, in times of duress, to keep our heads down and continue doing our work. Amidst political and, sometimes, nonsensical back-and-forth, we are proud to witness an elevated sense of focus, empathy and, at the risk of sounding absurd, calm. 

I hope that nobody ever faces what people back home are facing at the moment. I also pray that we can learn from our losses, as a people,  and appreciate a very basic trait from the great service to the nation that the Indian military provided: Let us answer when duty calls.

BBC's presentation in pictures of Uttarakhand: In pictures: Uttarakhand after the floods