I had to bring this to your attention: a five-year-old Kashmiri girl named Lishba who lived in one of the areas that was most affected by the quake spoke to the BBC about her memories of the tragedy and what she felt during and after it. I wish there were a picture of her; even without one, she’s captivated me. I don’t remember being this eloquent when i was five…
Where she was when the quake hit:
I was at home watching television and my sister was playing outside, my parents were in at home as well.
I felt the house shake and I got scared and ran to my father.
My sister was playing outside and at first we couldn’t find her, then my father went and got her home and all of us came out into the garden.
At first both my father and I thought the painter doing up my room must have broken something since the house shook, but then my father said this was an earthquake.
After the earthquake everybody was out of their houses and there was confusion everywhere.
Lishba, like so many others, is now homeless:
My house is completely broken all over.
We are now living in a field near my grandfather’s house.
When it rains, we all take shelter in the balcony of my grandfather’s house. It’s all broken and there are cracks everywhere but we all sit there.
Her parents must be so proud– she’s all about the edifying:
My school is completely ruined. We are off on the weekends so we didn’t go to the school. But one aunty said her son had gone to see the school and it’s completely razed to the ground.
I have not seen my school yet – since the quake we have been living with my grandfather’s family and I have not gone out at all…
I like going to school. I have a lot of fun there.
What the future holds:
My father was saying that we will all go away to Pindi [Rawalpindi] and he is coming with us too.
They [the government] should fix our houses first.
eloquent gal…sadly don’t think her house will be rebuilding anytime soon… i’m presuming her family members are all alive? hopefully so…i’d take that blessing and go to Pindi..
In time this girl and her family will become yet another statistic.
Wonder how long it will take for some semblance of normalcy to return to the lives of these people.
but isn’t she way past eloquent? 5 year olds growing up in Kashmir learn English first? I assumed this was a translation…
Translated or not, her words are more eloquent and honest than some adults who made it through Katrina.
More importantly, I wonder about children who go through tragedy, be it an EQ, a hurricane or war. Kids are so resilient and bounce back so much better than adults, but what kind of a mark will this event have on little Lishba’s life? Will she have learned an important life lesson early on or will she be scarred? I am aware that different attitudes and brain chemistry play into this, but I think of her on a more visceral level.
Maitri,
A few months ago, there was a special issue in Science on long term effects of natural disasters, using Indian Ocean tsunami as a case study. They went through on a wide range of effects even though their time sampling is still limited.
It is strange that since in recent times, these huge natural disasters (since the disaster itself is caused by lack of planning the men itself) occur in third world countries, therefore nobody has studied them effect carefully.
Resiliency is a tricky thing. In South Asia, there is such a low premium on life. There are helicoptors sitting 15 minutes away from people in trouble, but alas, no.
Even some jingoistic comments by our fellow men on this blog distrub me, when I look at these Kashmir earthquake victims – I see myself, my father, my uncles.
Also, the next Himalayan mega-earthquake tomorrow or next year or 10 or 100 years from now could be near my hometown. Who is to predict?
Even the Indian side is not stellar. Chalta hai style – it is more attitude than government in power.
I am not pleased.
Maitri, a small cause for optimism- some times, childhood tragedies influence people in profound, but creative, innovative ways. Some have said this is what lead to the Pinteresque genre- one of Henry Pinter’s first childhood recollections is of an air raid.