An inescapable and sobering thought that comes to mind in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, is that it happened in the most developed and most technologically advanced nation in the world. Neither earthquake nor tsunami is new to Japan. The Buddhist nation has perfected science so well to minimize the impact of adversities on human comfort.
Yet, the best wasn’t good enough. This leads us to the inevitable question: is there a limit to human excellence? Science and technology in many ways is seen as the redeeming facet of human existence that offers deliverance from the shackles ignorance. But is it infallible?
Eons ago, we didn’t know even a fraction of what we know now. We worshipped the Sun, the Moon and the Sea. We feared natural calamities: the likes of the disasters that shook Japan. Worship stemmed out of fear. Fear stemmed out of ignorance. Indeed ignorant, we were. And ever since the time of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, it has been a relentless quest for answers.
When we use superlatives like “the most advanced” and “the most developed”, are we also implying that the quest for answers has ended? Japan is a country that’s in the news mostly for good reasons. A daily routine that runs with clock-work precision. Haven’t we all heard tales of how we can set our watch by the arrival of the train? Hard-working and peaceful people. No communal disputes. No fight over languages. No strikes. No violence. No questions, and therefore no answers.
If at all there’s one question, it’s this: Why Japan is so politically unstable? A Japanese prime minister lasts in office for not more than three years on an average. But few care for an answer, since political instability hardly impacts human lifestyle there.
But last week’s twin disaster – resulting in massive damage to the nuclear reactors in Fukushima has been a rude shock. Japan’s PM said this was the worst crisis facing the nation since the World War II. When Japan was flattened to smithereens by atomic bombs, many questions were asked, which triggered a quest for answers. Did Japan provoke the US so much as to deserve the atom bombs? Post-1945, a new Japan rose, with vengeance, like a phoenix.
The wheel seems to have turned a full circle. There’s now a fear of massive radioactive contamination. And along with it is the untold misery of hundreds of thousands of people who have been forced to spend seemingly endless days and nights in rescue shelters.
It’s time for questions, again; and the quest for answers has begun. What went wrong, and why? Why did the system that famously works best, fail? Were too many things taken for granted? It’s said that the reactors were modelled on the old design. When newer designs are better guarded against disasters, why no upgradation was done?
There’s never an end to the quest for answers. Not even for Japan.
THE INDIA TIMES
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