Not Sympathy – World needs to learn from Japan

With over three thousand lives lost so far, half a million left homeless and the entire world gasping in scare of nuclear reactions due to the situation rendered by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, its time for the world not just to sympathize and empathize Japan’s bad luck with disasters, but to learn the true lessons of our times.

The way Japan is managing the entire disaster itself provides an insight into how prepared the nation was to provide the best of safety and recovery. The unique “Disaster Training Centers” of Japan which trains the Japanese with disaster management had always kept the country mentally ready for such situations. The trainings provided by these centers were compulsory for every school to attend at least once a year, compulsory for school teachers, nurses and attended by almost every citizen of the country.

When the disaster struck Japan last week, the people though shaken momentarily, were able to take decisions, actions and recovery at such a speed which is actually difficult to believe! Such a concept of Safety and Disaster Preparedness Center is not only missing in all other countries of the world, but this very concept itself speaks about how concerned the Japanese authorities always have been to safety of its citizens.

Unlike countries like India where everything runs in a reactive approach and school kids or adults are trained not even with giving first aid, leave alone disasters and natural calamities. For example, only a handful of high school kids in India might know that to extinguish a huge fire with fire extinguishers, one needs to aim not at the flame but the base of the fire, whereas in Japan all school kids know this!

On the other hand,as the nuclear crisis in Japan strengthens with blasts at nuclear reactors killing workers and fears of spreading nuclear reaction terrorizing the entire human world, the lesson which all nations of the world must learn is to stop taking interest in Nuclear energy. Countries like India are running blindly after Nuclear bills instead of focusing more on wind and solar energy sectors, because this would bring in the chance for the capitalists to earn more dollars and get more trade with the United States. Unfortunately India is now run by the capitalist lot and so it is no more a surprise when sectors like wind and solar energy which can bring self-independence to the country at least in energy sector are ignored to the very risky and vulnerable nuclear energy.

What has happened in Japan today has been happening around the world at all unpredictable as well as predictable times,- and its not just the tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricane, flood or terrorist attacks. Just because Japan’s death toll is nearing four thousand within a week and the pictures and videos are terrifying, the world is taking notice and offering sympathy. But tens of thousands of lives have been lost and millions left homeless in floods in South-East Asia over the decades, over twenty thousand lives lost in Assam alone in insurgency bloodsheds, a millions that are dying of proverty in India as the Government imposes taxes after taxes, the latest feather on the cap being increased taxes on medical treatment (which means to live, you need to pay more). Thousands die of malnutrition and malaria, hundreds of farmers kills themselves every year failing to either grow or sell a grain. But all of such crisis goes unnoticed and uncared for, just because such deaths are scattered, does not bring good ratings and profits for the media and most importantly forms the issues with which the people can come to power of a country and rule us forever.

We need the world to learn from Japan not only about managing disasters but also to open our eyes to equal or worse disasters happening around us, everyday.