Melancholic Times

There was a time I had decided to avoid watching news. News nowadays can be stressful. It’s as if one doesn’t have to watch a horror movie since most of the prime headlines make for such horrific news. But then again, it’s foolhardy to not be aware of the happenings in the world. Though ignorance is bliss, we cannot afford to live in denial especially at this age and time.

The remains of MH17

Exactly a fortnight ago at a time like this, the whole world was in shock after the Malaysian Airline flight MH17 bizarrely disappeared from all ground control systems. This coming in the wake of the now infamous Malaysian Airline flight MH370 that disappeared on 8^th March this year after losing contact with air traffic control less than an hour after take-off from Kuala Lumpur. Sadly, for the former MH70, it was established soon after that it had crashed in a Ukrainian region facing a volatile war with Russian secessionists. Only now are circumstances getting clear that the 200 people on board lost their lives after the plane was shot down. Man seems to have really gone nuts.

Do they deserve to grow up in Tears?

As I write this, there’s massive warfare in the never ending conflict between Israel and Palestine. Almost everyone the world over holds an opinion on this war. I know for a fact that this is prophecy getting fulfilled and soon enough, a New Jerusalem will be established. Let those who have ears, listen and those with eyes see. Needless to say, no war is an event to be celebrated. Seeing innocent children and adults alike getting killed, day after day is truly a sad affair no matter what side one identifies with in this war. One only needs to imagine how painful it is to lose a beloved one to understand the magnitude of loss with casualties about to run in their thousands.

So back to the news I am watching, it happens that an Air Algeria aeroplane has crashed somewhere in Mali. There is no need to speculate on the cause of the crash but seems like a hundred people have met their demise. And it happens there is another plane that has met the same destiny in Taiwan. Only that the latter’s crash has been attributed to a typhoon sweeping across the Far East.

Surfing through the news, and again the worst Ebola outbreak in history is continuing to ravage West Africa. This deadly virus is dangerous since it’s subtle, can spread easily and become a global catastrophe and all we can do is hope that it gets contained soon.

So, where does the human race turn to when there’s so much negativity around? And it’s not as if we are living in the worst of times. There have been way more grim situations in the past. Genocides have wiped out hundreds of thousands of people; wars have killed and displaced millions, the plague wiped out a third of the entire global population while the crusades were brutal, colonialism and slavery inhumane while natural catastrophes leave us speechless.

An Ebola victim being led to a grave

Yet, amidst these many phenomena, man remains resilient. People are awesome. You are awesome.