Comparitive Facts - Mumbai and New Orleans inches of rain in new orleans due to hurricane katrina... 18 inches of rain in mumbai (July 27th).... 37.1 population of new orleans... 484,674 population of mumbai.... 12,622,500 deaths in new orleans within 48 hours of katrina...100 deaths in mumbai within 48hours of rain.. 37. number of people to be evacuated in new orleans... entire city..wohh number of people evacuated in mumbai...10,000 Cases of shooting and violence in new orleans...Countless Cases of shooting and violence in mumbai.. NONE Time taken for US army to reach new orleans... 48hours Time taken for Indian army and navy to reach mumbai...12hours status 48hours later...new orleans is still waiting for relief, army and electricty status 48hours later..mumbai is back on its feet and is business is as usual USA...world's most developed nation India...third world country.. oopss...did i get the last fact wrong???
Haha That was a good one..and also a fact. The Mumbaikars who claimed, "" The flood was not given its due attention and relief measures taken were inadequate, inspite of us being the highest tax payers in the country", should read this. I also came across a news strip which said there were many burglaries in New Orleans, while there was hardly any such case in our Mumbai. Ya...I agree that you got the last fact wrong.
Thanks for the very prompt reply, Prathi. I see so many people complaining about India - this and that. There was even a seminar on Disaster Management in Mumbai. But what we forget to do is focus on our own strengths. There were not these large scale robberies in Mumbai as it happened in New Orleans. I am not finding fault with the US. My heart goes out to people who had suffered in these calamities -whether she be a Mumbaikar or a New Orleanite. But I am against those who as a matter of custom degrade India without looking into the facts. This snippet is for those people. It came in an email and I wanted to share. sridhar PS I love your way of starting the letter with haha and ending everything with cheers. That's a happy-go-lucky- attitude which very few people have. All the best.
I agree with you when you say you r not against anybody in particular and neither am I. Its just that i feel like u did, that, we should not constantly belittle our country at every instance, instead should realize our strengths and strive to build them. I also understand the pain and panic people would have faced, be it in New Orleans or Mumbai. Many have suffered irreplaceable losses and any humane heart would go out for them. We had experienced a sample of such a situation. Early this year, when there was a series of earthquakes in Indonesia, even Malaysia experienced tremors. Our 20th floor apartment would start swinging from one end to the other. We were woken up with a jolt in the middle of the night a couple of times and had to run downstairs with our passports and wallet. It was a frightening experience. i was grippedd by this fear for a few days and even a breeze would convince my mind to think it was a tremor. The natural calamities are on a rise. Its a sad and scary fact but not much can be done except pray that sufferings and casualties are minimised PS: Sridhar, Thanks for ur note. I feel that life will test us in many ways. A smile will make us succeed in those tests. If my "cheers" bring a smile on some one else's face, then i will have a new reason to smile.
India Vs US Sridhar, That was a good one.. but then you DID get the last fact WRONG....... Last evening I read an email titled, INDIAN MEDIA VS US MEDIA. The mail as usual condemned the Indian Media for their shortcomings and myopic vision, etc. Mail was all about how US Media was covering the Katrina storm attack compared to how India Media did nothing about the Mumbai rain storm. I feel like forwarding ur comparison to him but unfortunately I don't have his email ID.
I got to see the news about New Orleans... Hi all, I got to see the news about the Katrina disaster in New Orleans. It was pathetic to see people homeless, losing their families, starving for food, etc. The more painful thing was hearing that people who went for rescue misbehaving with young girls and woman. How in-human of them to behave so strange in this kind of life-death situation? I was always telling my husband while watching the news that if #1 country like the US is going to take so much time to recover from such disasters, what if such things happen in India? But after seeing your messages, looks like our people/Government have managed things so well in Mumbai, inspite of the lesser facilities we have. Good to know! Let this be an eye opener to people letting down our India when it comes to comparison with other countries. Things have changed a lot in India!
thanks for the facts Good one Sridhar...once again and as always, I felt good to be an Indian.The vibrant private sector, the civil society and Community wisdom rescued Mumbai from greater loss of lives and assets. People and their presence of mind should be appreciated. Usually people fall for everything and stand for nothing…but, in this case they stood together to fight together…Great show by Mumbaikars, where as people fell apart, indulging in looting, arson and crime in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1:City><st1lace>New Orleans</st1lace></st1:City>. That’s a big big difference. But comparisons and Statistics are good, only when they can help people forge ahead with more vigor, sometimes they may lead to complacency. Our country can do without that.. . Citizens should become more responsible and become more responsive and Government should improve internal efficiencies of all Departments, more particularly the Disaster Management Department to equip the country to handle such calamities with more speed and efficiency in future. regards Ambika
Dear All, Thanks for the nice words you have about this snippet. I am very happy, proud and am moved and touched to see that there is one long,strong thread that binds us all along with one billion Indians - the Indian spirit. Ambika, your point, that these statistics should not lead to complacency is a very timely advice which we should not forget at this time or at anytime. Please get me right: I am as much concerned with the people suffering in New Orleans as with those in Mumbai. This snippet (which was sent to me by a friend in China) is aimed at those who have the nasty habit of blaming India and Indian Government for anything and everything. In fact this attitude to me was so annoying that I once wrote a story fully on this - it was more of an essay than a story. One of these days I shall post it in our site. Whatever may be the other differences between India and other developed countries there's one difference which has always been overlooked. We have more than 10000 years of culture which very few countries have. India is the only country which has not invaded any other country for the last 5000 years. We should remember this fact and at the same time work with dedication and pride to see that India marches ahead and gets the place she richly deserves in the World Forum. I am very happy to see many members having similar sentiments. Jai Hind! sridhar
