The Forgotten Millions

I am not superstitious. But I do believe in Omens. Especially when there are repeated Omens, I guess its Gods way of trying to show me the way.

Yesterday night, I was having a beer with a friend of mine. Cribbing on how life is meaningless, how different people have wronged us, how life is going directionless etc.
Skipping through different channels, I stopped at NDTV to catch the latest headlines and then gave a much needed break to the remote. And then it happened. The first omen.

It was a programmed called “The Forgotten Millions”. A feature on the millions who lost everything in the Bihar floods. It was shocking. Kids with tears in their eyes mentioning how they haven’t ate anything after the day the floods ravaged their homes. Men swimming through high waters for some food that is being distributed as part of relief measures. Women crying about no food no drinking water no medicines for their sick children. Men telling how their family has no shelter, not even a dress to change into.
No food no water no clothes no shelter no medicines. The basic things that every human needs just does not exist in Bihar after the floods. The civic authorities are even warning that once the water recedes there would be the breakout of epidemic as everything is infected and there could be many more dead bodies lying rotting somewhere.
And here I am, enjoying my beer and cribbing about my life.

Then comes the second omen. I was cleaning up the house. The newspaper used by the local wine shop guy to cover the beer was lying on the floor. I picked it up and a quick glance to the headline caught my attention. The article was about how the food wasting habits of people in developed countries could cost a fortune. I had just thrown some food into the waste bin.

The third omen was a mix of events. The late night news mentioned how oil soared by around 16 dollars a barrel. the highest ever rise in a day. And then the Dow Jones went down by 1.5% today morning fearing a USD700 billion bailout to rescue the US economy. Increased government borrowing could lead to liquidity crisis, rising interest rates and a sharp increase in commodity prices.

The crisis is expected to deepen. Investors are wary of the stock markets. No one trusts their investments anymore. People even suspect that many more big firms might go bust.
You never know when a blast will occur in your neighbourhood.Your life is not safe. Your investments are not safe. Your properties are not safe. The big word that comes into use more often these days is RISK.

My omens tell me. its time to tighten the strings. the worst is yet to come.