Just a comparison...

This is an email doing the rounds.You have probably seen it by now. If not, take a look.

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Just a comparison :

inches of rain in new orleans due to hurricane katrina... 18
inches of rain in mumbai (July 27th).... 37.1


population of new orleans... 484,674
population of mumbai.... 12,622,500


deaths in new orleans within 48 hours of katrina...100
deaths in mumbai within 48hours of rain.. 37.


number of people to be evacuated in new orleans... entire city..wohh
number of people evacuated in mumbai...10,000


Cases of shooting and violence in new orleans...Countless
Cases of shooting and violence in mumbai.. NONE


Time taken for US army to reach new orleans... 48hours
Time taken for Indian army and navy to reach mumbai...12hours


status 48hours later...new orleans is still waiting for relief, army and electricty
status 48hours later..mumbai is back on its feet and is business is as usual


USA...world's most developed nation
India...third world country..

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Interesting facts. But then MW's and Indians in general bounce back so much faster, because dealing with disasters - natural or otherwise has become a way of life for us.

However, Mr R and I both agree that if Mumbai would have been inundated with water , not from a hurricane, but from a dam breaking, then one can only imagine in dread what the scale of devastation would be. You can't really compare the two disasters. Mumbai's water levels, although high, went down pretty soon. It's going to be months before the roads of New Orleans will be seen. Both events are horrific in their own right and shouldn't be compared. What does one get by gloating over whether we are better than them or not? It is certainly not going to improve our status as a third world country. We are going to need a lot more than a bad spell for the US to get us out of the mess we create for ourselves.

Times are bad for everybody. Just look around you and lend a helping hand. And make your own corner of the world a better one.

End of lecture for today :)

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On another note, I wonder what happened to Unkymoods, the world's favorite mood indicator site. It just seems to have closed down without warning or explanation. Boo Hoo! That was the only way I could subtly tell Mr R what my feelings 'really' were. I'll just have to find another site. Or another way. Hmmm.

Update: September 2006 - www.punkymoods.com launches bringing back the original moods. Yay!