ma visit to the NEW orleans

"To build may have to be the slow and laborious task of years.
To destroy can be the thoughtless act of a single day." - Sir Winston Churchill

Mother Nature had a thoughtless day? Probably she’s as impulsive as I am n am sure she s regretting it now n feelin pretty guilty. It was August 29th 2005 n m talking bout Katrina, the deadliest hurricane in the history of US. According to Wikipedia, it is the costliest one too (81.2 billion dols in damage including 90000 sqmiles). 1836 dead, 905 missing and 3 million ppl without electricity. Alright now y am I talking bout this.. I jus had a trip to New Orleans, to b precise Slidell a town in there. Frankly, the first word I can think of is Weird! The place looked deserted, dark and scary. All broken houses open and empty, no lights, no people and open shops with broken n hanging boards. I remember reading and seeing pictures of ppl swimming and looting groceries stores for food. To be truthful, I did not take it seriously. When I see the place after exactly a year and to c its condition now, I can imagine it then! I was taken aback to c a large cemetery that covers an entire road. Mayb I was jus overwhelmed, I usually get distressed even when I hear the ambulance. These r times wen I feel y innocent ppl who have blissful lives have to b taken away wen useless ppl like me r still hanging around happily! But one wud feel its better that way than being homeless and lost, seeing the BROKEN homes. Anyways the city has a beautiful French market and the downtown looks awesome. What a contrast while the houses in Slidell r on wheels (caravan) placed in front of the X-homes which are in pieces now.


I was impressed by a banner in front of one such house that said ‘we will rebuild’, sounded rebellious to me, like a challenge to nature. The entire city seems to b under construction tho, somehow reminded me of good old Chennai… jokes apart.. I am wondering whats happening to the world, n reading up on global warming and sea level rise. Seems like by 2100, its gonna rise beyond what we can imagine. I saw this trailor for the movie An Inconvenient Truth, man it scared me!! Now I dono if I wanna watch the movie or not. Watch the trailor if u haven’t, he talks about Calcutta/Florida being under water in few years and more stronger storms in coastal areas if we keep goin on like this, here s the link http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2078944470709189270. What happens to beach lovers like me? Well tsunami din scare me, I was rite bak on the shore the very next day….