From the minute you are born, you do not make your own choices. You do not choose your parents, your family, your sex, your zodiac sign, the colour of your skin or the sound of your name. Tragedy can stun us, make us pause, reflect, weep. It can make us feel pounded and battered. As we grapple with the pain of the present, the future can seem as remote and unapproachable as the other end of a destroyed bridge. But tomorrow dawns, bringing with it new hopes, tasks, challenges. We, the living, have a duty to life. We are human, and so we mourn. But the human spirit shines within us, and so we know. That our hearts – and lives – will go on.

The world shook on 26th of December-2004, and this shock kept reverberating for the next few days. South Asia, one of the most sought after tourist destinations in the world came under the hammer of God. Suddenly and sadly, Andaman & Nicobar Islands became world famous. The loss cannot be articulated in figures, words, music, etc…. Not even in feelings. In a sense it is an ineffable loss to mankind. One that even the largest rehabilitation program won’t be able to convalesce.

The questions that usually strike us after such tragedies are to know more about them. Tsunami is a word of Japanese origin meaning ‘harbour waves’. These are generally called tidal waves, though the phrase is a misnomer as it has nothing to do with tides. Tsunamis are generated when ocean floor shifts vertically, usually due to an earthquake. When a shift in the ocean floor displaces the water above, the body of water travels as a huge wave to regain equilibrium. In deep water, a tsunami can travel at 700 km/hr. But in shallow water near coast, it gets slower, and water mass up to 50m. A tsunami can sliver coasts of sand, deracinate trees, swab out towns. Traveling hundreds of meters inland, it can flood coastal towns. Do damage that is immutable.

Imagine floating in the Indian Ocean on a piece of wood for two days. Alone, not eloquent where the waves are taking you, and hoping incessantly for rescue. In a country that has been battered by the nastiest cyclones, floods, earthquakes, air, train and road accidents and intimidation, there are as many stories of lives as there are about deaths. But once the euphoria and media frenzy of the phenomenal escapes end, the healing must begin. This, according to psychiatrists, is the toughest phase – even tougher than floating in the oceans or walking out from a lethal train accident or a bomb blast.

For, in a disaster, be it a fervent Tsunami or a lethal road accident, the survivors are numbered by the passionate ordeal of living through the horrendous event. The wreckage of the episode is often more than they can handle. Having lost their loved ones, chattels and future – the survivors hit a dead end. This was the most thespian seismic shock in more than 40 years. The earth wobbled on its axis and permanently altered the geology of the adjoining areas. To be on the lighter side, it was just like flicking a top.

On the other side of our world, the so called Lost World was almost lost forever. This colossal anthropological catastrophe is feared to have wiped out tribes – already jeopardized by their perilously small numbers – conceivably rendering them extinct and snapping a willowy tie with a lost cohort. Amidst the unremitting surge of tear-jerking, heartrending stories, there are also touching, superhuman tales of the human fortitude shining through. The world amalgamated in the largest-ever relief operation.

Erratic and breathtaking, the ocean has always mesmerized humanity, throwing up inestimable myths and legends. By turns vindictive and benevolent, alluring and petrifying, the oceans have long cast a hex over humans. Many entrancing fables have sprung up around them. Here are some of the most attention-grabbing ones:

NOAH’S ARK: One of the best recognized stories from the Old Testament. Legend has it that God decided to castigate malevolence humanity by wiping it off the earth, but spared one virtuous man, Noah. God told Noah a great flood was coming in seven days and asked him to build an ark, on board which he was to bring his family, and a pair of all animals of the world. The flood lasted 40 days and 40 nights, after which Noah returned to land to give mankind a fresh beginning.

The fact that the tale is a common one through many cultures – there are 80,000 works in 72 languages – suggests that the event may have some historical basis.

MOSES & THE RED SEA: As a baby, Moses was put in a basket and floated down the Nile because the Pharaoh had ordered that all Jewish male children be drowned. He was pulled out by an Egyptian princess and named Moses because he was drawn (mashah) out of the water. Years later, as he led the Jews out of Egypt, the Pharaoh sent an army to carnage them. But Moses struck the Red Sea with his staff, and it parted, allowing him and his people safe passage. As the Egyptians began to cross, Moses stretched out his hand and the sea closed, drowning the Egyptians.

POSEIDON ADVENTURES: Poseidon, the Greek god of the Sea, is one of the six siblings who alienated the clout of the human race. Poseidon not only ruled the sea, he was also the god of earthquakes.

Poseidon was relied upon by sailors for safe voyages. However, he was a morose god, and his temperament could sometimes upshot in aggression. When in a good humor, he created new lands in the water and a tranquil sea. In contrast, when angry, he would wallop the ground with a trident and cause earthquakes, ship-wrecks, and drownings. He is also said to have created the island of Atlantis as an abode for his darling, Cleito.

THE LEGEND OF ATLANTIS: The island-nation of Atlantis is said to have existed over 11,000 years ago, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Apart from being copious in natural assets, it was also a major centre of trade and commerce. Its people were described as erudite, using complex know-how and staggeringly affluent. It is said to have vanished into the sea, due to an earthquake caused by gargantuan submarine explosions, triggering off a massive flood. Though there is no undeviating verification of its existence, it holds great enthrallment for many, including me!!

It’s an aftermath of a different kind. While the islanders spend sleepless nights because the land continues to rock, their mainland counterparts keep fingers crossed against tariff hits. When is it going to be politically correct to tell a joke again, go to a party, and admit you’re enjoying life? Post-disaster, how long should collective bereavement – as a distinct from the individual woe of those who have lost loved ones – lost? A lot of people and establishments, in India and elsewhere, cancelled their New Year eve carousing to show camaraderie with the fatalities. Others decided to go ahead with the revelry, often with the proviso that part of the proceeds would go towards the relief fund: Partying for a good cause. Both views are valid and deserve respect. Debacle creates an aftermath of ethical ambiguity. The preliminary alarm of revulsion gives way to an insidious sense of guilt. Of course, we genuinely grieve for the victims. But at the heart of that empathy there is a small but irrepressible inner voice which says: Thank God it wasn’t me. This is the remorse of the survivors, a poignant foreboding, as it is illogical. That those who have died have somehow died in our stead, by some enigmatic calculus of transience lost their lives so that we may live. Endurance is tinged with shame. That we the living have, after the fact, allowed others to die on our behalf, death by proxy. Guilt sharpens grief, gives it a serrated edge. If we recognize this remorse we jettison it as the specious spectre that is. Thank God it wasn’t me. The thought is as normal and natural as breathing. Or indeed as dying. Where in this is there cause for shame? Or of sorrow for the sake of sorrow.