Hope Floats

There has been so much devastation and loss in Kashmir recently. I can't even begin to imagine the horrors of being trapped on the terrace of your own home or school or shop, as it lies flooded, all your belongings having floated out with the raging water. To fight for survival not knowing whether your family and friends are okay, or if your children are managing in the school where they are trapped. To wait to be rescued for many nights, with no food or water or medicines or company.
In the midst of this heart wrenching nightmare, there is a sliver of hope. It isn't much, but it does exist. Hope has come in the form of our people. People who have come out in hoards from neighbouring villages to help the stranded. Who have taken time out from their jobs in order to help as much as they can. The army officers who are tirelessly rescuing people from all sorts of tricky situations and rowing them to the safety of overcrowded hospitals and dry ground - some who themselves have loved ones missing. There are people like my housekeeper here in Gurgaon, who has donated her hard-earned money so that medicines may be bought for the Kashmiris, because she wants to help in whatever way possible. Money from all over the country is steadily coming into rescue funds for the flood affected as citizen groups are reaching Kashmir to try and volunteer at camps and hospitals and assist the army in their boats.
I pray, as do prayer groups across the country, that the water recedes soon, and the damage is as minimum as possible. I hope we remember as a nation how it feels to come together, support each other, put the needs of others above our own for a change. I hope it doesn't take another national disaster to remind us of how good we can be.