New-year untamed festivity finally wrapped up
Customary hustle-bustle and normalcy submerged
Folks again commenced that occupation 9-5
And it was the picturesque evening of January 11th 2010 at 5 pm
A man headed home after a day’s hard work to spend time with his loved one,
Children playing soccer with a glorious sun setting in the horizon!
A gorgeous woman, dazzled with stunning, pristine jewels at a goldsmith’s
Maybe its final shopping for her wedding on January the 12th!
24 hours have gone by but the situation now was not foreseen
Unexpectedly, the Earth ferociously fired up trembling and roaring in anger
Revenge it maybe sought for by bringing all of the existence to a standstill
Confusion, Chaos, Anxiety and Fear engulfed the tranquility of this serene orb
Endurance of a few seconds but everlasting pain inked on the victims’ hearts
Flattened roofs and crumpled concrete
Alleys upon alleys of collapsed buildings
Streets crowded with screaming people, pain simply too excruciating to handle!
People still in a state of shock,
Denial to accept the vengeance with which the Earth shuddered
Or a joke maybe the nature played
People still dazed over what just happened in about 30 seconds!
People lying down flat on the streets,
A sharp piece of concrete rocketed in the eyes of a passerby
A little more focus and some realized hours later they still lay amidst the dead
Road junctions littered with the dead, wounded, screaming people!
Children just orphaned and women just widowed
Struggling amidst the rubble trying to avoid being crushed by concrete
Still unaware of the abuse they might face later,
When in such darkness the evil within many may rise.
The Haiti Earthquake left the country in utter rubble,
More than 100,000 feared dead came the figure days later
A number of injured a lot more higher, some still stuck under the debris
Stories about women ***** children kidnapped and jewels from the dead stolen started doing their rounds!
But, amidst such horrendous stories, a ray of hope shone in the outer world
The countries fighting with each other attempting to force their faith on each other
People in conflict wanting to win the fight at any potential cost
Suddenly, dropped their weapons and joined hands to support the friends in the distant world
From a race to find wealth and conquer the world,
It became a race to provide help and save lives
Surely it turned to a race to reduce pain and extend a helping hand
The world united and suddenly, there was no lack of countries offering help.
No phones, No electricity, no communication
No food, no water, no shelter, no medicines
Planes from countries many, ammunition in abundance parked at the airport
Flattened concrete jungle having no path to enable these reach the littered people
Hope still was not lost, people still held hands together, fighting for a common cause
Trying to cut through the concrete jungle
Cutting and lifting enormous giants slashed their way through the rubble
A race to find survivors who still lay buried under the concrete was still to be won!
A wondrous phenomenon materialized!
A 5 year old still breathing as the rubble was finally raised after 72 hours!
A joyous scream amongst the people around, tears of happiness from his parent’s eyes!
Doctors and nurses ready to attend to him with food, water, medicines and a hug!
Hope seems to grow stronger
A few toys donated by a girl maybe from Australia, reached the impoverished girl
Who lost both her legs under the concrete!
Everything that’s gone wrong would not be fixed, but I do see a sign that humanity’s not totally vanished!
People working together tirelessly day and night
No track of the time since they last had their lunch!
They didn’t seem to care, for the joy of witnessing every miracle was worth a lot more!
Some battles lost, as casualty number rose,
But I salute to the soldiers on the battlefield for the chivalry they have bestowed!
A slap on the face of skeptics, that the big bad world still has angels
In the event of an adversity, our world together has still shown rock-solid humanity
Maybe a year or two down the line, the country would be back in its glorious state!
A show put up by the citizens of the world that humanity is not totally yet forgotten!
~ Heeral Kothari.