BODY and MIND SOLUTION news Letter 2.1, Jan 2008
Article of the month
The Bhuj Phenomena
Sanjeev Rastogi
These are the excerpts from editor’s memoir after a weak long visit to earthquake hit Bhuj in 2001 Gujarat in. He was there to attend a medical relief camp run for victims. The article reveals some intricacies of human behavior, which are reflected only when there is a crisis.
Bhuj has become the epitome of real humane side of the human being. Flooding of relief material, rescue people and volunteers not only from nearby places but from the places as far as Seychelles, Canada, Germany, Spain, U.K. and many more is a clear indication of survival of the sprout of fraternity deep somewhere, though hardly reflected anywhere in current society with changed values of life.
In one week of my stay at Bhachau as a leader to a medical team, when I meet a team of Seychelles comprising of 9 member with different professions, I was totally convinced that the human race will survive all the odds and even in the ages to come. Rose Anne, the troupe leader from Canada was literally craving as for not getting any work to do for the complete one day of their stay. “We did not come here for site seeing. We are ready to do the job as hard as anything can be. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get someone who can guide us where to go and what to do? Out of their 9 members 4 were from paramedical and rests were volunteers. They were from a disaster management group and were exposed in natural calamity management. Their worry was genuine. Even this was same with me at least for the very first day of my arrival at Bhachau, as I could not find a real work to do what I was expecting. “I will try to make something to you people”. I assured them and took them to a mobile hospital running near by the Ukrain military doctors. It was nice as at least two of them could absorbed in the hospital for minor processes like changing the bandages and giving the intra muscular and intra venous injections. The satisfaction I could see over their faces after finding some thing to do was the biggest praise one can ever get.
Imagine the feeling of a heart, which is heading from 10,000 miles away to a place unknown to him and to work for the people unknown to him. Can the humanity be better defined than this?
I was looking after a dispensary run by a NGO in Bhachau, a taluka in Kuchh region worst hit by Jan 26th disaster. This taluka comprises of around 80 thousand people with many villages scattered around. In taluka nothing could survived the burnt of earth quack. Even the villages formed no exceptions. All the villages have turned into the piles of stones interrupted with doors and windows occasionally. Though the mortalities were relatively less in villages, the number of injured people was exceptionally high. Surprising was to see the smiling greeting faces of village folks when we went to deliver the medical care at their door. This disaster has definitely snatched a lot of lovable among them but could not take of the smile and hospitality they had traditionally. In this area where water is a valuable, we have been repeatedly asked for chach and tea almost at every door. They are tough in build and mind both.
Repeated draughts (it rains here once in 2-3 years) have made them perfect to face the troubles. Many a times we were simply refused by some elderly person to accept medical help for his minor ailment. Can you believe that there are people who are struggling for their survival between the bare land and naked sky can refuse for more of the blankets as they already have got one and feel that next should be given to the one who is in real need of it? Yes, this was an every day happening here in Bhachau villages. They are with high morals and self-respect.
Bhuj has projected a very different side of India this time. After initial chaos in the management, it gradually come to the ages and has become a phenomenon to Indian management. The administration has give up at least for the delivery of relief material to the needy people to NGOs without any restriction. Everyday hundred of truckloads arrive and is handed over directly to the NGOs for its proper utilization.
NGOs have done well in every field ranging from food, temporary shelters, dead body disposal, and medical management to rehabilitation. Not only from Gujrat but the people from every corner of India have come to take part in relief voluntarily. Many organizations and business individuals have started adopting the villages as a whole for its complete rehabilitation. Most satisfying is that, at this time, this all is going without much hype, slowly but steadily, and with a commitment. Say for Mr. Chauhan, a retired executive engineer from Delhi who is making a colony to give shelters to at least 500 families in Bhachau. How many of these Chauhans are there, is difficult to figure out.
This was pleasing for me to hear a foreigner exclaiming, “this is wondering to see the disaster management here, we were expecting it too bad and so were prepared to do as we did in African Countries”.
This has shown a new face of India too to the outer world. In fact, pain is the biggest binding force between human being. It binds the people in closest ties without seeing for their race, religion, caste or country, provided if you could feel for it.
Though immensely painful, this Bhuj phenomenon was perfectly able to show the goodness of globalization and to say for, that we all are of the same origin as we feel the similar pain and concern for every human being. (This article has appeared in 9:2,2001 issue of NAMAH)
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