Sailing

Having a five-day work week means you'll have to rush to prepare your work and complete them within the five days. The quantity doesn't change, only the time allotted to complete them.

But it also means I get to pursue what I enjoy over the weekends and I had to opportunity to sail again. And I truly enjoy the experience.

I can't say very much about my skills considering the boat capsized several times and I had a good laugh over it - but hey I'm a greenhorn with no experience or qualification.

What was enriching wasn't just the thrill of gliding over the waters - it was an opportunity for me to think and ponder: the waters I enjoyed were the very ones that killed close to 150,000 people not so long ago. It was unnerving and discomforting. I couldn't quite make out what I was feeling - awe? respect? affinity? desire?

Everytime I read various reports about the victims of the disaster, my heart sinks quite literally. And it isn't because I feel sad for the loss of life (well, perhaps some measure) but the unsettling truth that we were so close yet were completely spared. Why them and not us? I ask ... Well, the geological emplacements can explain why we were safe from nature's fury. But on a metaphysical level, there is no real explanation. Things happen. People die - it just isn't me, or the people I know. But, again, why them .... and not I?

And as long as it doesn't happen to 'us', the reality of the fragility of life will never hit home. We watch as voyeurs; we attempt to care by providing whatever aid at however little a price we can. The world has responded as one with empathy and financial aid. But at the heart of it we are truly helpless to help.

And that truth is what makes my heart sink. I too am unable to.