When tragedy strikes

Death comes sneaking and gallops away before we realize leaving some distraught people in its wake. This blogger had gone to Ramanagaram (it is an hour from Bangalore) to snap Long billed Vulture (this my second visit in last one month and still couldn’t get it, will have to come back again). This is a rocky terrain (famous for movies like Sholay and Passage to India) climb up and you will reach a temple (dedicated to lord Ram) with deceptively placid looking pond- that is formed on the cervices of huge rocky mountains. I was expecting a calm day, had chosen a working day when people are busy in offices, a sunny quiet day i love to be out, then came bus load of utterly excited school children to my utmost irritation. I have nothing against children but there are times when you don’t want them around. So I climbed further up where you get a clear view of the mountains and no one around, I sat there to watch the amazing sight. Screams and shouts woke me from my stupor; apparently an adolescent boy was sucked into the pool his sister jumped to save him she too was drowning when some local saved her. It was chaos with children and attempts made to rescue, few who dared to get into the pool came back stunned by the steep sudden depth. In the meantime some foreigners came with troop of tidily dressed children and immediately congregated to evaluate the situation and decided to go back. I too was getting sucked into the whirlpool of overwhelming despair and so decided to go away. Close the eyes and pray for the soul and move on what else to do.

Who is responsible for this?. You cannot blame the child he was ecstatic, euphoric being out on a picnic. Did the school authorities take enough precautions?. Did they have parent teacher meeting to discuss the risks involved and precautions to be taken, after all you are giving your children’s responsibilities to teachers?. Were the children told what is expected from them?. I guess no because they were all running well ahead of teachers, when the tragedy happened there were no elders around. Further up the rock mountains too are dangerously placed with precarious paths, this is no place for unsupervised children.

What about the authorities? There is no one around, at the gate down below there is a fellow who collects money for parking that’s all. The threaded fellow in the temple should also be held responsible. He is not here to make easy money, he has responsibility. The path to the pond is from the temple, why was it kept open? He is not even bothered about basic cleanliness of the surrounding with plastic covers strewn around the place, disgusting people. To keep the surrounding safe and clean is the duty of those who run the temple. Religion should necessarily start from that premise.

Tragedies happen in tourist spot which collide with the might of nature, I have seen many like this it upset me lot (this time I got it on camera, more pics on photo blog). City dwellers generally tend to underestimate nature. I recall many deaths in meenmutti (near Trivandrum which was favorite excursion spot). Being drunk is understandable, being drunk on a beach is also understandable but being drunk during monsoon and wanting to get into the sea is not understandable at all. Sea is treacherous during monsoon with heavy undercurrent but some of these youngsters (studying in manipal) with exaggerated understanding of themselves are ready for any stupidity. I have seen many deaths in Malpe beach during my brief stay. Why would anyone intentionally reduce their probability of survival with these kinds of antics is beyond me.

PS: cleanliness of the surrounding is different from ritualistic cleanliness of dimwits, hygiene includes keeping the vicinity clean and safe. Religion should necessarily reflect heightened aesthetic sense. This blogger strongly believes there is an increasing need for ministry of aesthetics, every new structure or urban plan has to be cleared by them