Selective Amnesia There was a point to this. But I forgot.

Wolf! Wolf!

A Tsunami warning false alarm yesterday in Madras put me in touch with a side of reality I generally want to overlook.

I have often decried the existence and maintenance of a Police system, and would rather do away with central authorities and governing bodies. But yesterday, I realised that, in some cases at least, a body of enforcers are very essential.

Following the false alarm, my boss and I decided to land up at the Marina, to see the Tsunami in the eye, and probably give it a piece of our collective minds.

By the time we could get to the road that leads to the beach, the place was cordoned off, with traffic constables diverting traffic away from the beach. Closer to the promenade, Police were helping the fisherfolks evacuate, and send mischief mongers packing.

And curious folks like me were sent back firmly, but politely. Thankfully, there was no major event, and all we could see was the usual waves. But the point is, if it were an actual tsunami, and the police weren’t around, I wouldn’t be alive to write this little piece, and neither would be the other 1000 odd people.

Screaming their throats sore at the local college kids who wanted to show off, chasing cyclists who wanted to get to the sand, diverting traffic away from the beach road, controlling the crowds that were pushing at the barricades, the Police men and a few women, were really, really effective. And pretty brave too. Putting their lives on the line, so we don’t.

This post, folks, is dedicated to the Police men I have often derided, and wrote off.

Get offa my land Tsunami

I’m alright, thank you, you kindly 2 people, for asking. I was nowhere near the beach, and no one I know were too. In fact, truth be told, I was kinda excited about the Tsunami.

Which, I realise, is a little stupid and heartless to confess.
But therein lies the point of this post.

Before the scale of the devastation was known, and before all the news channel started descending onto Madras, I was discussing with a friend of mine about the Tsunami. With us was another friend, a guy from Kerala. Friend #1 suddenly turns to Friend #2 and says, not without a trace of pride, “You see, Tamil Nadu is the most affected”.
My first reaction was to talk him some sense, before I realised I was thinking of the same thing.

For those not personally affected by the calamity, there is a macabre sense of pride in knowing that your state or city has been affected. I am not drawing a conclusion just based on this incident. This has happened quite often in the past, and a few of my friends confess to the same.

So, what are we? Heartless folks, or just plain indifferent?

20 kmpd

Lost steam, and a malfunctioning modem at home isn’t helping matters either. My blogging has gone down from almost 2 posts a day to 2 a week, if that. But no apologies, and no regrets. I do have a lot to say, and a lot to talk, but they will be at my own pace.
For now though, I am going to watch the Indibloggies with great interest. I, as a revered Jury member [;)], have submitted my nominations for this year’s bloggies, and hopefully, I have done justice to all the blogs I read, and the blogs that truly deserve their fame. There’s still time though, for the nominations to be filed, so if you guys feel your blog needs to be there with the rest of the best, do head on over to the bloggies site, and request the other jurors for a nomination.

Oh, By the way, I’ve got 6 more G-Mail invites to dole out, so holler.