Katrina Vs Mumbai monsoon

July 26, 2005. Heavy rains slashed Mumbai and most of Maharashtra, in India. People did expect heavy rains. But this was huge. Almost wiped out an entire city. All in a matter of 3 hrs on that fateful tuesday. The official toll of people killed in this calamity is more than 1000. Mumbai is the financial capital of the India. Seems familiar??

Yeah...Hurricane Katrina has done to New Orleans what the heavy rains did to Mumbai. (Wish we had a fancy name for the rains too...like....say for example....Monster Monsoons??) So what's the difference? Oh...there's so much to say dear....

First of all, media coverage.

I watch Fox news twice everyday. Morning and night. Not a single word was mentioned abt the Mumbai calamity. They covered the Brazilian guy that was shot dead by the British cops because he refused to stop when they ordered him to and killed him mistaking him for a terrorist. Heck....Fox and NBC covered the guy's funeral in Brazil as well. That drama continued for 3-4 days. Same time back in Mumbai, 1000's were dying and starving. They needed help. Government said they were doing their best. People were tired, hungry and angry. Army was deployed to help rescue operations. So much was going on...Not a single word mentioned even in their websites.

That's US media for you....right there.

But i bet Indian media is covering Hurricane Katrina with as much importance as one would give to a humongous tragedy like this. Yeah....that's how we are.

Second of all, seems like people are ruthlessly looting the stores in New Orleans. Cops are given orders to shoot looters in extreme situations and what are these people looting? Bread, Milk, Chips??? If they did, that's a different thing. It is acceptable in a way. Cuz, there are no stores open. There are no people behind the counters trying to run a business there. Even if that's the way things are, then who has the money to go buy stuff there? And people are dying of hunger. They need to feed their kids. And the food is going to rot anyways since everything comes with an expiration date.

But there are people looting televisions, DVRs, electronic goods etc. No...seriously....govt says it's gonna take atleast a month to restore power. What are these guys gonna do with the stolen electronic stuff till then? They have no place to go. Their houses are in water. How are they gonna explain when the cops ask them abt the stuff they have in their car trunk?

Stupid and ridiculous.

I'm watching the news as i'm typing this. Rapes and murders were just reported in New Orleans. I see a dead body floating in the streets. Geez....rapes and murders?? Not sure if i even want to say anything about it...

See, people were helping each other in Mumbai. There were no cases of looting, raping or murders. Yes...relief efforts were a bit slow from the govt side. But people didn't act barbaric.

Man...i don't think i can even write anymore .....this is DISTURBING!