Calamities, of our and nature's doing

As a citizen of the world, one is forced to stand still for a few moments and is filled with awe -- doesn't English have a longer word? -- at learning of a calamity on the scale of the earthquake which struck Golcuk, Turkey. The death toll is confirmed at more than 10,000, and it is feared to total about 40,000.

Unlike revolutions and wars, earthquakes, tornadoes and cyclones are not manmade. I truly expected that volunteers would bring whatever relief to the suffering of the stricken people. We read that Koreans are there with sniffer dogs and the Japanese and Americans are working hard to remove the rubble. Who will follow?

It is a pity that warnings of earthquakes cannot be measured as "precisely" as the weather. Experts are said to be still working on effective methods. Volcanic eruptions also are hard to predict although molten lava and volcanic ash are visible if there is renewed activity.

Examples of manmade calamities perhaps are the civil strife in the Congo, Kosovo and, nearer to home, the East Timor saga. It is a tragedy that almost all parts of the world are involved in the latter, including organizations such as the United Nations, while the United States of America has sent a group of senators to investigate. They have recommended the deployment of UN peacekeepers to keep apart the hostile groups before the vote on autonomy.

While we profess to love our neighbors, there has been hardly a period in human history where there have been no quarrels. Our best attitude in facing calamities or catastrophes, manmade or otherwise, is to pray for the best and be ready for the worst.

When babies are born, they usually cry hard, as if they have a premonition that life is not complete if one is not ready with a basket for tears and another basket of U.S. dollars. Forgive me for saying so. It seems that animals come into this world with laughter, like horses and cows, while crocodiles are deprived of tears in their eyes and of a tongue in their mouth so they cannot speak bad of their neighbors.

GANDHI SUKARDI

Jakarta