Guest guest Posted January 29, 2001 Report Share Posted January 29, 2001 Dear friends, Incidentally, I was on the spot when this killer earthquake was enacting its fury. We, a group of nine devotees, were on our return journey from pilgrimage in Gujarat and Rajasthan. For 40 to 50 seconds our car, the buildings around us, and the trees were shaking before us helplessly at the mercy of the nature's might. We left the spot in the fear of after tremors. Then, after reaching our homes we listened to and witnessed on TV the sad plight of countless lives being rooted out of their joy of celebrations of the Republic Day, our National Festival. At times, the Nature becomes all powerful to show the proud human being its place. The relief and rescue work is in full swing, and India has achieved some sense of progress not to beg for help from outside. The death toll has reached 51000 +! c s shah =============================== For E-zine on Vedanta and Science Do Visit: http://www.neovedanta.org ---- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 31, 2001 Report Share Posted January 31, 2001 I found this article touching...the loss and the damage is felt all the more... ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Jan. 30, 02:24 EDT Devastated Gujarat state immensely rich in history The state of Gujarat, hit by India's biggest earthquake, is rich in history and redolent of the intellectual and entrepreneurial spirit of its people, who have historically been marine traders and migrated far and wide, including Canada. Mohandas Gandhi was a son of Gujarat. So was the grandfather of British actor Ben Kingsley who played the Mahatma in the movie Gandhi. So was Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the creator of Pakistan. So were the Bhuttos, who hailed from one of Gujarat's 222 princely statelets and moved to Pakistan after 1947. So was the great grandfather of the Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of the Ismaili Muslims who came from Persia overland through Sindh and Gujarat in 1845 before settling south in Bombay. It was to the Gujarat coastline on the Arabian Sea that the Zoroastrians fleeing persecution in Persia came by boat in 785 A.D. Later they moved to Bombay where they came to be called Parsi (after their language, Farsi). It is from their ranks that Canadian author Rohinton Mistry hails. It was to Gujarat's coast that the first Muslims came from Arabia in the 7th century. And it was from Gujarat that ships traded with Zanzibar, from where the 15th century Portuguese traveller Vasco da Gama hired a Gujarati sailor to take him to India. It was in Gujarat's bustling port of Surat that the British got their toehold. The East India Co. established a base there 100 years before conquering it in 1759 and moving on to colonize India. It was to Surat that Sir Richard Burton, the legendary Victorian explorer, came in 1843 via Bombay. He was en route to his first posting 150 kilometres inland in the princely state of Baroda. There he was to meet the maharajah who owned a carpet woven in pearls and diamonds, and more famously a pair of gold-plated cannons. The ruler's son was to build a palace which still stands as a monument to grandiosity, a synthesis of Moghul domes, Gothic arches and Venetian windows commanding attention from across its 150-metre facade. There were other grand palaces erected across Gujarat. A villa at Porbandar - where Gandhi's father was dewan, chief administrator - was inspired by Arab and Moorish designs. Another at Wankaner - where Gandhi's father later moved - boasted a marble spiral staircase with two sets of flights to screen the ascending from those descending. In nearby Morvi, the earthquake has damaged the Durbargarh Palace where stone balustrades lined a promenade around the roof. It was from Gujarat that Gandhi waged his epic battle against British colonial rule. It was from his ashram, peaceful abode, in Ahmedabad - the capital of the state and the centre of quake relief - that he led 78 of his disciples on his historic 1930 Salt March to protest the royal monopoly on making and marketing salt. As thousands joined him along the way, newsmen from around the world came. By the end of his 240-kilometre journey at Dandi where he waded ashore and scooped up a piece of caked salt and called on all Indians to make their own, Gandhi had cracked the British empire's hold. Post-independence, Gujarat emerged as one of the centres of industry and commerce, with textile, oil and soap mills and chemical factories that supply bulk ingredients to Canadian prescription drug manufacturing firms. Gujarat is among nine of India's 25 states that are driving the country's current boom, pushing the economy to a GNP of $500 billion (U.S.), ninth-biggest in the world. The price for progress is being paid in pollution, especially in smoke-choked industrial zones, and in what once was pristine beach, the rust-infested Alang, the world's largest ship-breaking site. Gujaratis - those living in Gujarat or who hail from there, and generally speak the Gujarati language - form prominent pockets among the 16 million-strong Indian diaspora around the world. Known for their business acumen, hard work and frugality, they emigrated as traders to serve the Indian indentured labourers in various colonies in the 19th century. They flourished in east and south Africa. From there they were either forced out or migrated to Britain and North America. Their Sri Swaminarayan Mandir in London is the biggest Hindu temple outside India. It is listed as such in the Guinness Book of World Records, which also records another religiously-inspired Gujarat project - the world's largest Koran, the Islamic scripture, calligraphed on 1,200 cloth pages, measuring 1.9 metres by 1 metre apiece, and stored in a mosque not far from the Baroda palace. Gujaratis are second only to Jews in the diamond trade, especially in New York and Antwerp. They dominate the Asian American Hotel Owners Association, that represents America's nearly $100 billion lodging industry. Post-independence, Gujarat emerged as a centre of industry and commerce They own more than half the motels in the United States, prompting the alliterative `Patel Motel,' after their most common last name. In Canada, some of the most prominent Indo Canadians are Gujaratis, whose population is estimated at 40,000 - about 30,000 Hindus and 10,000 Muslims. Today, all are united in their grief. (Note: I am grateful to the following for their assistance: Dr. Bhiku Jethalal; Imam Abdul Hai Patel; and Elish Ruperal, president of the Federation of Gujarati Associations in Canada.) >c s shah <drcsshah >jairam seshadri <jairamseshadri >The earthquake >Tue, 30 Jan 2001 19:35:21 +0530 > >Dear Jairam, >The figures of mortality and morbidity are very high. It is very tragic >and sad to see the plight of thousands affected by nature's fury. >However, we should see the same Divine Power - Shakti- there also, as >Swami Vivekananda had written: > > " And Let Shyama Dance There " Vol. 4, page 506 >... > >The roll of thunder, the crashing of clouds, >War of elements spreading earth and sky; >Darkness vomiting forth blinding darkness, >The Pralaya* wind angrily roaring; >In quick bursts of dazzling splendor flashes >Boold-red terrific lightening, dealing death; >Monster waves roaring like thunder, foaming, >Rush impetuous to leap mountain peaks; >The earth booms furious, reels and totters, >Sinks down to its ruin, hurled from its place; >Piercing the ground, stream forth tremendous flames, >Mighty ranges blow up into atoms. > >... > >True, they garland Thee with skulls, but sink back >In fright and call Thee, " O All-Merciful! " >At thy thunder peal of awful laughter, >At Thy nudeness - for space is thy garment - >Their hearts sink down with terror, but they say, > " It is the demons that the Mother kill! " >They only pretend they wish to see THEE, >But when the time comes, at Thy sight they flee. >Thou art Death! To each and all in the world >Thou distribuest the plague and disease >- Vessels of venom filled by Thine own hands. > >... >* Pralaya means 'the time of cosmic destruction'. > >c s shah > > _______________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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