Grace under pressure

Tomorrow’s Holi, but by the looks of it, the mood in society and B-Town, apart from a few TV channel bashes, is muted. It was much the same last year, but this year it seems the edginess worldwide — the Japan crisis, the rumblings in the Middle East — has subdued the general atmosphere even further. Perhaps very few want to play with colour when so much of the world is grappling with shades of gray. The Land of the Rising Sun, is top of mind, struggling in the aftermath of the earthquake, the tsunami deluge, the fires and explosions, the power shut-downs in freezing weather, the awful threat of nuclear meltdown and the radiation fears. As the world watches Japan, countries and corporates ready to evacuate their citizens, even as social networking sites are conveying messages of solidarity and support.

What’s admirable is the way the population seems to be dealing with the utter breakdown of life as they know it, around themselves. In Mumbai, a contingent of Japanese designers pulled off a successful show at the just-concluded fashion week, despite terrible anxiety at the situation back home, hours after the tsunami hit. In Japan, reports emerging, tell of the people’s fortitude and resilience, their incredible generosity to their fellowman in such terrible adversity — the social fabric holds absolutely, there is no chaos/looting/mayhem as witnessed in other parts of the world after such destruction. The Japanese have always been a culture that has straddled the futuristic and the traditional effortlessly. They have taught the world a few things about technology, but now, in their immense dignity in the face of what their PM called their worst crisis since World War II, they are also teaching the world a few things about grace under unimaginable pressure.

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And with everything feeling that much under pressure, Mumbai is also sweltering, mid March. Temperatures touched 41 degrees Celsius around midweek. The city’s fashion jamboree also ended mid week, but unlike the weather, many pronounced it low on the hotness / ‘haute’ness quotient, complaints mostly centered along the eternal Mumbai-Delhi divide and the accompanying accusations of step-motherly treatment. But then again, what’s a fashion week without some drama and finger pointing?!

Meanwhile, the sizzle in actual temperatures is not thrilling for our animals and feathered population (like sparrows for instance, ahead of World Sparrow Day, March 20).Conservationists especially urge putting out bowls of drinking water for them to cool off.

My own home, in any case, is a free for all — the birds around flock to my Labrador’s bowl of drinking water, which he most generously shares with all and sundry (including, most horrifyingly, my four-year-old). And whilst on the topic of animals, some endearing stories/pictures of pooches having survived the tsunami deluge, to be reunited with their owners have come to light. Such is the love for Furries in Japan, that surveys say pets, dogs especially, outnumber children aged 10 and under.