Twenty five years after the Bhopal tragedy, the aftermath is still felt on several fronts.

At midnight on December 3, 1984, poisonous gases, mostly methyl isocyanate (MIC) leaked out of abandoned tanks of the Union Carbide pesticide factory in Bhopal in Uttar Pradesh exposing 500,000 people to its terribly toxic effect. The gas affected people’s eyes and lungs; people running in panic crushed others; so that the death toll was estimated to range from 3,787 (official Bhopal figure) to 10,000. 15,000 have died since. 10 to 20 are said to still die monthly, cause of death being exposure to the gas suffered as long ago as a quarter century. Needless to say there are people living who are ill with effects of the leaked gases, and have been handicapped since the accident occurred.

The plant had been abandoned in 1980, but huge cylinders with poisonous chemicals were stored in the premises with minimum safety measures in place. Water, from washing up that had been done by workers, seeped into the cylinders and raised the temperature to 200 degrees centigrade. Pressure built up and the old corroded metal of the containers caved in allowing gas to escape.

We saw pictures of the disaster, variously named the Bhopal Disaster, Bhopal Tragedy and the Union Carbide Tragedy. Never to be forgotten were images printed in newspapers and flashed electronically over TV; pictures of people, mostly children, blinded or coughing their guts out. Dead bodies were strewn all over. Death was quick and sudden since Bhopal is a poor city and those who lived near the factory were the poorest and ignorant.

The effects of the tragedy are most certainly not over. Ground water is contaminated, children are born with abnormalities and those who got compensation, disproportionately miserly in comparison to the crime committed, are begging now, too ill to earn a living, compensation money all spent and finished.

Ignorance of the Bhopal dwellers and of course not being prepared for a likely disaster aggravated the situation. As in SL, chillies are burned superstitiously in India to counter the effects of evil eye and evil tongue. People who woke up to the smell of the leaking gas thought smarting of eyes and coughing and choking were due to a large scale burning of chillies by a neighbour to ward off evil. The gas smelled like burning chillies, hence the washing of eyes or covering of mouth and nose were delayed or not resorted to at all by those woken up with a fog of poison enveloping them at the dead of night.

We remember vividly the tsunami of December 26, 2004 which affected 12 southern hemisphere nations including Somalia, Tanzania and the Seychelles because of a below the ocean earthquake of 9.0 magnitude. The death toll worldwide is estimated at 235,000 or 285,000. But in this instance, it was a natural disaster though blame in Sri Lanka , one of the worst affected, can be laid on the government for lack of an early warning signal system not efficiently installed nor maintained on a rigid 24 hour basis.

In 2003, the earthquake in Iran killed 26,271; the 2005 earthquake epicentred in Pakistan had 50,000 dying with India and Afghanistan too feeling shock waves.

One connects one’s reaction to tragedies by remembering what one was doing when one first heard about a disaster, or how one was alerted to it. These recollections go to show how self centered we humans are. Vividly remembered is the first intimation of the tsunami. I had booked two rooms in a Bentota hotel with great difficulty for a two day stay starting December 27 since family was visiting from abroad. Then when the news came in, the immediate reaction was alarm wondering where one’s relative was, the one who had planned to spend the day in a Kalutara hotel. Frantic with worry, calls were made. The three young women had turned back because the father of one had phoned he was suddenly not feeling well. The day at the beach was abandoned because the heart patient father had to have medical attention. Instead, the three friends decided to lunch at the Mt Lavinia Hotel. This was abandoned in favour of rushing to a store to buy stuff to send to the devastated areas.

TV clips of the 9/11 tragedy are seared in the mind. Happily going about my household chores I was frantically alerted by a friend to switch on the TV, with the added comment: "What on earth are you doing? Don’t you know what has happened?" That added an implication of personal involvement. The unbelievable sight of the plane just going into a twin tower like a knife going into a cake structure and the huge building buckling down immediately brought on the panic of where the two family members who work in Manhattan were? Safe? Though telephoning New York was impossible, the lines being jammed, within an hour calls came from the US with the assurance the two were safe. One of them had touched down in Boston Airport just as one of the planes carrying the death dealing devilish terrorists had taken off. The other had been in her safe office and was roaming the clouded streets, shocked beyond measure.

A happier memory is hearing the sepulchral voice of Neil Armstrong from the moon telling the listening world over the radio about his almost miraculous first lunar step. I was lulling my new born to sleep. A relative (skeptical female or foolish?) never believed man set foot on the moon. To her the relayed news was another Orson Well’s theatre-reporting of the landing of aliens in America. She argued for long that it was a put up job by the space station in Florida! "Trust the Americans" she would scornfully declaim.

Though painful, tragedies have to be recollected, anniversaries observed, so people do not forget them and feel foolishly secure. Tragedies, natural or man-made must be kept in mind, not to mourn over but to insist on preparedness and timely warning.