This was the first time I personally came across a damaged region. It was truly unbelievable. The strange thing was the damage and the event details came to light many years after (Pliny junior's account after 25 years) the horrendous disaster caused by the volcano.
Of the 10,000 inhabitants, there are about 10% encased in volcanic ash remains to tell the grim tale.
The only other disaster area I visited was Hiroshima in the August of 1969. The only edifice reminding the nuking of the city was indeed very sad but the rest of Hiroshima was back to normal and the extent of the disaster was not visceral.
If you ever happen to visit Italy try to make it to Pompeii.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQOXW_iNxtc
Proud to have been a part of this great nation.
Jai Hind
India has chosen Draupadi Murmu from ODISHA as its First Citizen. She belongs to a tribal community and is a teacher. She has experience in the government including a governorship.
Here is a list of the other illustrious people who were the First Citizens (Draupadi Murmu is also included).
Today (7/23/2022) my good friend and mentor Swarn Kalsi forwarded this heart-rending account about our new president Shrimati Draupadi Murmu and how she found peace:
"Shrimati Draupadi Murmu’s personal life is a story of resilience and ‘self-pride’. There was an unforgettable moment for her in 2009 when her 25-year-old son Lakshman died unexpectedly after attending a gathering in Bhubaneshwar. His death broke her. Supriya Kumari, head of the Brahma Kumari ashram in Rairangpaur, Odisha says, “She was completely shattered. She wasn’t having any life within her to even talk.”
In one of the talks on Brahma Kumari’s television program, Draupadi Murmu herself narrated this event, “The tsunami came into my life in 2009. It was a huge jolt to me. I couldn’t hear anything for a few days. I slipped into depression. Log kehte the ye to mar jaegi (People thought I would not survive). But, no, I wanted to live.”
After two months, she visited Supriya Kumari in the Brahma Kumaris ashram, completed a course, and learnt Sahaj Rajyog. She recovered by changing her life. Since then, *she gets up every day around 3.30 am* and retires to *bed by 9.30 pm*. She *does yoga and meditation unfailingly and is punctual as well*. The spiritual bent of life not only survived her but stabilized her too.
But tragedy befell Murmu again when her younger son, Shipun, died in a road accident. When his body was brought home, she was broken completely, once again.
Rajesh Sharma, a local journalist who was present at her home, says, “She was crying uncontrollably. She broke down before her son’s body. She raised her hands to the sky, asking, ‘God, what more do you want from me? What is left now?’” The catastrophe came in droves.
In an indescribable series of events, her mother and a younger brother died within a month. And a year later, due to deep depression, her husband, Shyam Charan Murmu, died as well.
At that point, Droupadi Murmu told a TV anchor with pain in her voice: “When my second son died, the jolt was a little less than before because I was doing meditation. My husband wasn’t as strong as me, so he couldn’t survive.” She insisted on her only daughter, Itishree, to marry and lead a normal life. *After the deaths of five family members, she turned to spirituality and vegetarianism*. When she was the governor of Jharkhand (2015-2021), she made the kitchen completely vegetarian. She is likely to bring many fundamental changes in the running of the government in the Rashtrapati Bhavan if she becomes the President.
Draupadi Murmu has *donated her family’s land in Pahadpur for public causes*. She runs the SLS residential school in memory of her husband and two sons. At the exact location, she has made samadhis in their memory. It’s a heart-wrenching sight.
At the same time when you see tribal girls and boys getting free education and decent surroundings around samadhis, you can visualize carving out a beautiful future out of a deadly past.
Take a bow Draupadi Murmu, to be the President of India!"
