Surviving The Famine...

Helen looked at the sky and cried “God! Help me.” Her soft eyes blinked and watched the hypnotic sands, freezing winds… No drops of water to be seen. The last drop of water left in the bottle was consumed by her only child; John. He is 12 years of age. Both the mother and son; have fought through the cold, harsh winter and  scarcity of food and water; to reach a more safer place. She came from a land, which is devastated by famine. No, harvests and scarcity of food grains; made the conditions severe. The people did not have any food for days. They tried to get the grass covering the ground, in order to allay hunger. In ordinary times, may be what the pigs and dogs would not have eaten, now the people eat.

As the severe winter started approaching; conditions worsened. Diseases such as typhoid and dysentery ran rampant. Millions attempted to migrate to neighboring provinces, hoping to escape death. Some residents resorted to pillage and banditry for food. In certain areas, hundreds of people huddled together for warmth in huge underground pits. Corpses, too numerous for individual burial, were piled by thousands; into mass graves. Ravenous pack of dogs and wolves freely roamed the countryside eating the dead and attacking the living. The most painful sight was to see that parents killed their own children and committed suicide to avoid continued suffering. Poor communication in that part of the world worsened the famines’ effect.

Helen sat on the desert sands and those horrible memories just made her weaker. She holds her own son and ears rolled from her eyes. Gone, were those days of joys, happiness and that beautiful city, which now seemed more terrible than hell. John, looked at her mother and said, “Mom, why do you worry? I am, there with you.”

Stunned! By that word, Helen looked at her 12-year-old boy in that lost light. Her eyes were about to burst out with tears, when she understood that, She shouldn’t cry. Those ten words of John brought back the lost strength in her.

The ‘MOTHER’ stood up to fight against the odds. She has to fight that ice-desert and move to a safer location to get help, before they both become the victims of death. Slowly; Helen moved over the silvery moor in that moonlit cold night. Her Child accompanying…

Well, dear friends, have you ever thought; what would have happened, if ‘WE’ someday fall in the above situation. Have you ever thought for a single moment apart from your busy schedule about those people (your brothers and sisters) dying at the hands of famine in Ethiopia, Somalia and the surrounding countries?

Have you ever thought about farmers, who are committing suicides due to lack of food and debt at Vidharbha, Maharashra, India. There are countless such examples, which if read and thought would bring tears in our eyes. The question lies are we ready for a ‘DEADLY FAMINE”?

Just imagine… if there is a widespread surface and groundwater contamination in Asia and the Pacific.

Just imagine… a major food scare in Europe.

Just imagine… water stress in mid-continental North America.

Just imagine… a major famine in South Asia.

So, before it can even happen in our worst nightmares; please spend sometime in reading, “About Famines” in the web page; the link of which is given below:

Let’s join hands to make this world a safer place to live in and the day it happens; all my dreams and struggles will come to an end.

The web page will take sometime to open. So, if you having slower Internet line, then I would request you to please wait for the picture to get downloaded. If still it takes time, then I would request you to please REFRESH the page, so that it gets downloaded soon.

Read “ABOUT FAMINES” at;

http://www.geocities.com/mainaksworld/famine1.html

Please click on the Arrow (>>) to close the advertisements on your extreme right to see the full page of the web page.

Thanks a lot for taking your time and reading this post.

Thanking you,

                                                                  Yours faithfully,

                                                                Mainak Mazumder

                                                     Founder of MAINAKSWORLD

                                      E-mail your views at mainaksworld@yahoo.com

                                      Post Date: 18^th December, 2006