Cultivate humanity as a culture

Mumbai. 26/7, 2005. Nature unleashed its wrath to bathe the city into submission. Trains stopped and vehicles were stranded. People marooned on the streets. Worse, power snapped and the city plunged into darkness. It seemed Mumbai would not be able to survive the ordeal.

Until yet again, the indomitable spirit, that epitomises the megapolis, decided to rise to the occasion. Everyone came out of their houses in rescuing those in distress. Food was distributed, shelter and clothes given to strangers.

As Mumbai made its way through a spate of insurmountable odds, one saw not just the triumph of human spirit, but of humanity as a whole which can tide over the toughest of circumstances.

Here is a lesson for Mumbai or any other city: if the care and concern shown by all on a day of calamity became an everyday feature, our cities could become a much better place to live in. Why does it have to take a calamity to awaken the humane attributes?

It often strikes me that we have two faces — one that is too impervious to human sufferings and the other, dipped deep in benevolence. On any given day, we would scarcely spare a thought for, perhaps, one who might have met with a road accident and needs to be taken to hospital.

Tell me, how many of us would stop our cars and get him immediate medical care? Indians had always shown their most gracious face in the face of adversity. Likewise, I staunchly feel there is a need to replicate what Mumbai did on 26/7 in our day-to-day lives.